by Lucie Shores

Created on: January 28, 2010

Human vices of greed, lust and pride are dominant traits exercised to preserve one's own life.  If that is as far as we get on the scale thena disintegration of culture ensues.  To put it simply, vice is not a straightforward problem.   We try to repress those traits in our current culture, and in so doing, we create emergencies as human emotions erupt, wreaking havoc with the design of our social fabric.  

Our big brains have helped us design infinitely accurate machines, tests, tools and assessments that can inform us of the best way to bring the science of what counts to the art of what works. That is one way to state a wish to go deeper than our culture generally allows when it comes to almost every aspect of life.  But we have an aversion to knowing ourselves deeply.

I knew we had reached another turning point while watching a movie trailer the other day that shocked me with shallowness...again.  The opening phrase was read in the usual gritty tones of a basso profundo. "In a land, (pause) that is dominated by decor, (pause) ...". The rest of the sentence was lost to me as I tried to imagine what could have been said that I had heard wrong, but I was at a loss.

The trailer included a CGI fantasy world; dancing jewelry flashing under lighting that illuminated vibrant colors on well-dressed, animated characters. Of course that does not describe sufficiently any scene so one could recognize it, but it also could be a description of almost any scenario in public life. Children may think of holidays; actors, of opening night; politicians, of Washington, DC; men of the cloth think of a heavenly sphere.

Are we still so superficial, or have we never actually held any depth of belief in common? Are we avatars acting out scripts written by ancestors, history, some oppressor, the environment, the plants and animals that we might blame for causing our existence to swing wildly from severe, implacable, possibly impossible to gracious, serene and pastoral? Perhaps that is why so many finally turn to trees, whales or children to define the meaning of their lives. By saving something do we actually save ourselves?

Looking clearly at the accomplishments of our culture, the children and other endangered and gentle creatures demand answers. When seen objectively, we have accomplished little more than ants, only on a much grander and more obnoxious scale.   

But wait...the things that decorated the world long ago

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