Two steps forward

I may have overstated myself in my previous entry, so I wanted to take this opportunity to slow it down so we can speed it up.

In using the term "hope" in my previous entry, I in no way am trying to say that I believe that there is some sort of ultimate culmination to our cultural pursuits; I do not believe in a Utopian end to our efforts. Instead, what I mean in my use of hope is that things will generally get better for everyone in terms of basic and essential needs, i.e. food, shelter, healthcare etc. When I say these things, they do not at all reflect potential for contentment, improved demeanor or overall happiness. If anything, we've found ourselves stagnated in response to the success of the marketplace, with people becoming trite and vacuous. Capital invokes complacency. As a person who spends a large amount of time in strangers' homes, I can't say I see a whole lot of diversity. Rarely (if ever) do I see customers with a decent selection of literature or quality films in their house, and maybe its my sour approach to my job which causes me to view these people so negatively, but I have to think of this as an instance where it takes two to tango.

I want to get back to this idea that capital invokes complacency, because it's something I've been thinking about a lot lately. In essence, its this idea that the more things are provided for us, the less people are interested in self manifestation and improvement, probably because the approach of the new is silenced by the needs of the marketplace. In a society where immediacy oftentimes trumps practicality, there are a lot of ways we can look at ourselves and say we've taken the wrong step. It just seems like people are more willing to be force fed things that aren't necessarily what they want, and I think the American cultural perception of what's artistically nifty reflects this via things like The Da vinchi code, Titanic and Live Laugh Love placards. I'm sorry if you like all three of those things.

Maybe things have always been this way, and to a large extent I'd say thats right, but there's also this creeping fear inside of me which says that people are more apt to accept what they're told to do now than they have been in recent and comparable American history. Maybe its that what they're willing to accept is more dangerous and emotionally bereft than it has been before. That could be the case. It just seems like there's no actual desire to break the status quo, and whatever desire there is is typically outweighed by a desire to become famous once the shackles are broken rather than continued pursuit of what's actually good or useful. When i see these hackneyed attempts by people to make a moment mean something or create something beautiful it feels so forced, as though there's no sanctuary to hide in from the corporate ghosts. And I don't mean this in a personal sense because I have a lot of friends who I'm proud of and who I don't think fit into this mold at all, but what I'm talking about is in a global sense, and how average people while their time away.

I may have gotten a little off track, but what I wanted to say here was that I don't believe that society will get more prosperous and survivable on account of an abstraction like hope but instead out of necessity. We will always be moved towards what is in our best interests, and better sense of global fraternity should typically be viewed as the easiest way for us to get by in a world that is increasingly plural. Generally, this progress can be viewed positively, but its no reason to stop prodding society to improve conditions and allow inspiration for new thoughts. I may have contradicted myself here, but if you have a problem with it either write a comment or go fuck yourself.