Our Culture Seems to Care…
…but often about the wrong things.
Paris Hilton pranced out of jail and her cheery exit has been taking up network news time. Who cares? Evidently quite a few people care, based on the news coverage and the record amount of mail she received during her terrible 23 day ordeal.
Apathy doesn’t seem to be a cultural malaise these days. People seems to care a great deal but about lots of silly stuff. Yes, we do seem care about a missing mom in Canton, Ohio and floods and gas prices, but it gets squeezed between tons of reports about immature celebrities and reality TV shows.
And just who the heck am I to judge what is silly stuff?
Answer: a thinking adult. That’s what adults are supposed to do. We’re supposed to reflect on what is important in our personal lives, in our communities and in our culture. Adults are supposed to exercise mature discernment, not out of intolerance but concern. People often don’t agree with someone else’s conclusion. but that’s no reason to stop thinking and talking about what we think.
And our unbalanced obsession with Hilton and her ilk is pathetic and sad. A passing interest in the lifestyles of the rich and famous isn’t bad, but a displacement of news coverage to follow their every step and misstep is.
With the war in Iraq, genocide in Darfur, homelessness, missing children, hunger, poverty, education and even the simple challenge of raising happy, healthy kids–for heaven’s sake, let’s stop caring so much about the silly and trivial and free up some media attention, some thinking time and yes, even some action, to care about the important stuff.
