I believe that the West is careening its way towards two different kinds of bankruptcy. The first is fiscal bankruptcy. While most people see this as the primary problem, I see it as a minor symptom of the second bankruptcy: Spiritual Bankruptcy.
The West has created a system where the individual is the be all and end all of the world. We in America and our cousins in Europe have created a system where the government rewards any excess in the name of personal liberty. It is as if Ayn Rand's amoral universe has come into play. We have the looters true enough, but for some reason we also have the self-absorbed and egocentric villains that she tried so hard to make attractive.
The bankruptcy is the loss of the glue that holds any society together, the idea that one's actions must be part of a long line of persons. That the actions that one takes must make both one forebears and ones descendants proud. The individuals that live today is merely links in the chain of life. We take as much as we possibly can for our personal comfort, knowing that we are impoverishing the generations that will follow us.
We must begin to live in a sustainable manner. Our children and children's children will curse us if we do not.
No comments:
Post a Comment