17 Comments

Ahhh, right and wrong. Who is to say what is what for society? What is society? America used to have a fairly consistent and widespread set of acceptable morals but today we just have laws and arguments.

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I think that a significant but under appreciated societal shift is the replacement of music culture with video game culture. I was born in 1988, so I lived through some of the transformation. I was very into music as a teenager and messed around in a few bands / recording projects in high school. At the same time, my friend group would not think it strange to sit down and play video games together. These video game parties continued until I was close to 30, which is insane looking back on it.

I have yet to see a teenager these days who is really into music (or really any art), but I see plenty who are *very* into video games. They have a deep emotional connection to them that is hard for older people to understand. The values that video games promote — sitting still, being quiet, sharing, following directions — probably have a trickle down effect into other areas.

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Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn sums it up when he said “do not participate in the lie.” As you have articulated Rob - say NO when you feel that you must. There’s this notion that we must do things for the good of the collective. It’s very in-vogue currently but it is a misnomer. There is no collective. It’s just an abstract idea. Who can speak for the needs of the collective? Answer: no one. It’s a fallacy. Society is to be guided by thoughtful and considerate individuals. This then informs a collective notion of what is good for all. Not the other way round.

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Well said! Excellent post. I'm right there with ya.

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