I thought that the hippie generation starting in the 1950's was, although I was not directly a part of it, a good thing. It was, it seemed to me, to be a call to individuality. "Do your own thing...whatever. No social restraints. Everything goes. Live YOUR life." And to some extent, that is what happened.
But then along came the internet, and...wham!...the pendulum has swung completely around, away from individuality and pointing today totally outward to a world of conformity more inclusive, more expansive, then pre-hippies ever knew or could ever imagine. From what I see and hear, youngsters today measure themseles in every imaginable way by others, by what others are doing, by what others have. It results in nonstop competition that can never be won. Making everyone, everyone, losers.
"I only have 550 friends on facebook...most kids I know have close to a thousand."
"My ipod is out of date., it only has 1200 apps...new ones have over 3,000."
"I make $9 an hour...some of the guys make nine fifty or ten".
"Check the internet. See what people are saying, the way it's done these days, the way you must do it if you want to make it in the world."
Can't win. While conformity in the old days was with the few in the neighborhood, it is now aimed toward a global standard of seven billion others.
Can't win. It is no longer a question whether the glass is half full or half empty...it is a third full and leaking.
Can't win. There is always MORE.
There are to be sure some unique benefits to being in touch with the world...but none at the cost of losing one's self. There are to be sure advantages to be gained from others, but none at the price of losing one's own identity, one's personal values.
With the help (?) of modern technology, the herd--horde--is now stampeding itself.
In the 1967 Broadway musical Hair, touting the dawning of the Age of Aquarius, one of the new age's dominant features is said to be "the mind's true liberation".
Waiting.
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