There are no secrets. All the answers have been written down, and nobody reads.
In his novel "A Brave New World," Aldous Huxley depicts a dystopian society of humans who have been herded into short attention spans, drooling over tabloids and short-form stimulating content. The novel depicts a society of hedonistic individuals pursuing the mirage of happiness held over their heads like a gold carrot. Unbeknownst to the masses, they have given up all remaining rights and privileges for comfort and security.
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Above I call happiness "a mirage" because that is what I feel like "happy" means today. The idea that any individual can get to a point in life where all their needs are met and can feel content with the status quo seems utterly anti-human to me. For myself, happiness is not something that can be found, but rather happiness is an active choice. It is not a noun but a verb.
I was utterly relieved when I found this novel of Huxley's. It is proof I am not insane, or more importantly proof I wasn't alone in my disgust toward the status quo of marketing and consumption. My only question now: is it too late? News bastards are have been commenting on our sub-12 minute attention spans for close to a decade now, but we forget it's an issue as they switch to the following 6 minute segment on terrorism then on to the next "Top 4 Recipes of the Summer."
I am mostly interested in hearing the voices of others regarding this topic. What do you think about our state of affairs? Is there a road forward that doesn't include the removal of all our personal freedoms?
It won't be easy, but if we do not have hope what else is there?
-H
