Wayne M. – Bioinformatics with multiple degrees including a Ph.D. from U. CA Berkeley
I largely agree with you regarding the corrosive effect of pervasive materialism in modern life. However, I think its matter of degree. Like the Goldilocks and famous bears, a certain moderate amount of materialism is a good thing, and in any case essential. Putting to rest hunger, disease and ignorance all costs $'s, but the world will a better place when they are vanquished. I'm sure you think so too.
The problem as I see it is that the _middle ground_ has been eroded to the vanishing point. People don't just want a home of their own, which I think is a reasonable goal, representing a degree of security that looms larger and larger at least on my personal (and, alas, homeless) horizon as I grow older. No, they want a 10,000 sq ft McMansion, preferably in a choice zip code, with three cars for the garage and a hi-def TV in each of the seven bathrooms. A bit over the top.
It’s the absence of any non-material dream that is deplorable.
What I think you are saying to the readers here is that one's dreams should not be reducible to a 30 second commercial, and if they are then this is a real existential warning sign. When an entire culture is so afflicted, beware.
The problem as I see it is that the _middle ground_ has been eroded to the vanishing point. People don't just want a home of their own, which I think is a reasonable goal, representing a degree of security that looms larger and larger at least on my personal (and, alas, homeless) horizon as I grow older. No, they want a 10,000 sq ft McMansion, preferably in a choice zip code, with three cars for the garage and a hi-def TV in each of the seven bathrooms. A bit over the top.
It’s the absence of any non-material dream that is deplorable.
What I think you are saying to the readers here is that one's dreams should not be reducible to a 30 second commercial, and if they are then this is a real existential warning sign. When an entire culture is so afflicted, beware.
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