so what has changed?
in the 20th century, western society was an idealist society. well that is not quite true; it was already less idealist than the 19th century, or the middles ages, or the ancient societies, for that matter. but it was still somewhat idealistic. what does this mean? that means that life, the whole of existance, was, in the end, build around ideals. the ideal of society, of a greater good, a greater purpose, sense and meaning. the idea and ideal that society is there for the wellbeing of every individual; for the progress of mankind; that the goverment, the politicians are there for that. oh, that doesn't mean that this idealism was total; of course there were doubts; people who "know it better"; or disappointed people living on the fringe. but generally, this was the focal point of society, of life. people did not go to work merely for a paycheck; it gave them a deeper fulfillment to take a part in society, to do something for society, to be part of this "greater good". if course we know this was a lie to most part; politicians, the goverment, society, strove for power and did horrible things in that part, and never really *actually* did strife for the greater good. but the problem lies deeper. the idealism was not just attached to the status quo; when the hippies, the leftists, the worker organisations realised that the status quo did not further the ideal it was supposed to keep. by rebellion, strikes, uprising, resistance, they too fought for *ideals*, for a better world, a better society, utopia.
and this brings us to the problem of society nowadays. today, people are aware that the goverment, the politicians, are a lie. they know the big corporations operate on greed, not for a bigger good. but they do not fight this; they do not strive for an ideal or a different idea. because they got no ideals anymore. because the ideals are gone.
again i should add that i don't mean that old society or the "old values" were perfect; they were almost the opposite; but society was organized around ideals and this is important. and this is not the case. there are no ideals anymore. neither amongst the ruling or the middle class or the lower class or even the outcasts. everyone is just fighting for what he thinks is his "own good". they collect their paycheck, not to further mankind, but to waste it on consumer goods and such. who is still striving for an ideal? who is fighting for an ideal? anybody?
it should be noted that this problem runs much much deep than it seems. it is not that everyone had gone "egoistic" or "self-absorded". people have lost their contact to ideals. they do not even believe they exist anymore. *if* someone actually should fight for a better good, people do not think "what a fool, i better strive for self-gain". they think he is a fluke, a fake, a poser, who itself just pretends to go for a greater good, and has ultimately "self-gain" purposes too, such as fame and money or impressing people. they can not believe that someone could really use his energy on a greater good or an ideal. because they don't know what an ideal is anymore.
so, this means, in society, everything is based not on ideals anymore. it is based on what people deem "practical", tangible, the little issues instead of the big issues. consumerism, social standing, rising up in social esteem and such. even the "big goals" some people have are not ideal, but tangible: becoming famous, becoming rich. being a big light in the status quo - not striving for a different state of things, of society. not going for an ideal.
this change in society could not be expressed by many, because, as i said, they lost the knowledge and believe in ideals. they, in a sense, can not imagine that people, society was driven by ideals once or that it would be possible to be this way now. they think no other state than the now could exist.
there could be a lot more writting on this subject; it could fill books. but i will stop for now. maybe i can get back to it in other texts.
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