I think I've had a rather astounding discovery. The other day in my Literature and Film class, we were talking about romance addiction--yes, you really can become addicted to the idea/feeling of romance. . . candlelight dinners, exotic beaches, having that picture perfect someone at your side. A strange topic, I know, but really we've been discussing the Western ideal of romance as found in mythology like Tristan and Isuelt--basically, love at first sight and all that stuff--which leads us to this problem that people have with romance addiction. So the conversation meandered along, and I was mostly asleep, but as the topic started shifting over to the idea of the fantasies that people create for themselves I became more alert for two reasons. The first reason is that as a self proclaimed writer, I deal in fantasy. I depend on my ability to create situations--romantic or otherwise--with my mind, so I started to wonder if maybe writers are perhaps romance addicts at heart (maybe not Tom Clancy, but certainly Nora Roberts and Stephanie Myer). But that's not really the heart of this blog, the second reason was because I had an epiphany.
I know why there is so much divorce and crime and stuff. I know why society is degenerating so quickly. It's because things are too good. People have too much time to indulge in their fantasies, but worse than that, people fantasize about things that are within the realm of possibility. You want a bigger house? You can get it. You want a supermodel at your side? Not impossible. Sure, you might have to sacrifice things like your family or your soul, but just about anything is possible these days. This is perhaps the only time in history where such social mobility is possible, and people fantasize about that. They always dream about how things could be better, and that's why things are so bad. Because they stop caring about now.
Let's rewind a couple hundred years or so. . . no, let's go even farther back. . . err, let's forget picking a specific time, but rather, let's pick a lifestyle. Farmers. Before all these technological creations that make farming much easier, farmers labored in the fields all day with their hands. Work started early, and ended late. Even the women worked hard. People were so involved in work they didn't have time to fantasize, and if they did, their fantasies just weren't possible. A farmer couldn't really fantasize about having an affair with a supermodel because they didn't exist, and it just wasn't possible. A farm wife couldn't dream about a romantic getaway in Tahiti because that wasn't possible either.
Worse, our society today capitalizes on this. Movies and books paint pretty little pictures about the ideal romance, the ideal home, the ideal woman/man, the ideal car, blah, blah, blah. Life and love should be fast paced and full of excitement. We are bombarded on all sides by these ideals that are possible, but not realistic. And so, people become disenchanted with the now. They cannot be satisfied with what they have, and they constantly believe that obtaining the next thing will make them happy. It only brings them misery, because they leave behind the things that are really important.
Yup, we're decaying because things are too good, and because we dream about how they could be better.
2 comments:
Very good theory. I like it. I can see how very accurate it could be. Along with that, people want all those great things and because it is possible to get them in this day in age, they have the false belief that once they get it THEN life will be better and things will be good. But it's not like that. You have to make your life good right now, because if you have the attitude that you have to wait for it, even once you get whatever it is, I can guarantee that life wont get better.
Turns out that my theory is supported by an expert, Slavoj Zizek. I'm still reading his assertions so I might post some more later.
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