Modern Mediocrity
Why is it that TV shows like American Idol, and Dancing with the Stars for that matter, all this reality based programming, is so popular? Is it because they showcase great talents and interesting individuals? Actually, it‘s just the opposite they showcase mediocrity. Just plain Joes and Janes singing and dancing their little hearts out, with varying levels of talent, even the celebrities on these shows are has-beens and one hit wonders. There is no greatness here just a big stew of mediocrity. All hail mediocrity, the great equalizer! It is something we can all aspire to. It lowers the bar so we don’t have to work hard to attain it. Strive for excellence? We are all quite happy being mediocre, thank you.
From the sad reality on our TVs, to the redundant movie remakes on our theater screens, it is abundantly clear that the great American creativity machine is broke, and I’m afraid a reboot just isn’t going to cut it. It will take a complete overhaul from the ground up. We seem to have lost the ability to be original. I say ‘seem’ because it is almost unbelievable that the original thinking nation that brought man democracy, flight, and the atomic bomb just can’t get her unique, innovative culture of creativity to sizzle anymore. It barely simmers.
We use to set the standards globally in industry, science, the arts and medicine. The whole world looked to us for inspiration. We created the trends in music, theater and fashion. Now we don’t even try to compete in the marketplace, we don’t have any industry, and our farmers get paid to not grow things.
This culture of mediocrity that we are cultivating is turning us into a disposable society. There is no real competition when everything is second-rate, so we don’t make anything to last any more. There is no need to have a sense of pride when everything is run of the mill, so we’ve stopped even trying. Once we stopped trying to be innovative and original we lost the drive to be creative.
When you lose your sense of pride, you lose respect for yourself and everything around you. So, in the end, you have no respect for anything; laws, your environment, your fellow humans. As this disposable society spreads globally, so will its effects, creating an ever expanding world population that has no respect for anything, not even life. Pretty dangerous stuff, when you consider all the weapons that everyone has.
The truly ironic thing is that there are a lot of people with real talents who may never get a chance to share them with the rest of the world. That also means that we’ll never get a chance to experience those talents as part of our civilization’s unique culture. After all, culture was meant to enrich us all, not just the ‘Simon Cowells’, and the delicacies of global culture, were meant to feed our souls not to give us heartburn.
Please stop by Gifts for All Occasions By Sasha
By David Spangenburg
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