In the podcast "Best Society", Rob Reimen emphasizes the fact that the western world has become less sensitive. In 1921, in Paris, a French philosopher “wrote a brilliant essay on the crisis of the human spirit, saying that the human spirit gave humans a distinction from animals.” The spirit gives humans the power of imagination and some idea about truth, justice, freedom and what is good. Rob Reimen says that the “human spirit of modern man has become mixed up. We have become less sensitive and are addicted to noise and excitement.” Individuals now need stronger means to satisfy their own sense of excitement. For example, the movies with John Wayne in the 1950s were exciting. Today we have movies such as Top Gun and James Bond, which are action packed to keep our attention and excite us. In addition, it used to be that even the view of the slightest part of a woman would cause sexual excitement, but not anymore. The concept of needing more could be compared to drugs. People who use them continually need more to get the same satiation or excitement from them. Also, in order for the news to get viewers, they need to say things like breaking news, danger, and war, because it captures the audience and it's exciting. Some philosophers feel that this change in society and becoming less sensative is a result of a change in values. According to Rob Reimen, our youths' changing values are due to the previous generation. Parents aren't teaching their kids what's right and what's wrong, nor are they teaching it in school. The public school does not value art as strongly as other subjects or as they used to in the past. Art, culture, and other methods enable individuals to express their feelings.
Citizens are now beginning to accept issues that were previously not accepted. The clothing that is being sold to small girls are tight, revealing, and are sexy. The sayings on clothing are rude and rebellious with sayings such as "who cares?", "princess", and "playboy bunnies". In addition, we have become invaded by technology. It rules people's lives. We plan our days so we can watch television shows that begin at a specific time. We buy Shrek, Spiderman, and High School Musical in stores just because they were advertised on television. Kids want an item just because it has the character's picture on it. Furthermore, teen swearing is also something that is extremely common. So much so that it's becoming accepted and unnoticed to the people hearing it. Other examples of how tolerant we have become as a society include abortion and gay marriage. Through the images of television and the push in store and from peers of what to buy, our culture has become less sensitive to the change in what has become accepted.
Due to our technology and culture we now have become the mass man; we feel that we should automatically have freedom and all our physical needs met. We should have no restrictions or criticism for what we want to do. We are now taught to “not think, just be entertained.” We now don't have as much art and imagination. Art gave individuals a way to express their feelings and create meaning to the BIG life questions. Furthermore, without art and culture humans rely on the physical means of expressing themselves, that is usually violence. In conclusion, our culture, ideas, and values are changing for the worst. We have become superficial, focusing on entertainment instead of adressing the important things in life. What are we, the current citizens of America, going to do to help our society survive morally?(This picture=IPHONE)
Works Cited:
"Spider-man the official site for spiderman movie fans." Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. MARVEL. 22 Nov 2007 .
"John Wayne." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. November 21, 2007 . Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 21 Nov 2007 .
"Michelangelo Art." 22 Nov 2007 http://www.moodbook.com/art/michelangelo.html.
Podcast from: "What is the best society?." APM: Word for Word . 22 Nov 2007 .
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