It’s interesting how the things that used to make sense now seem to make no sense. Judging by news reports, I think it must be opposite day and abnormal is the new normal. Take the seismic activity for instance, have we always had this many earthquakes in a two year time span? Somebody must be tracking these events. Weather-wise our hurricanes seem stronger and we’ve talked enough about the extraordinary thunderstorms. I just got caught in another crazy one yesterday. And as we discussed in an earlier post, even the Catatumbo Lightning is a-changing. What is going on?
Here’s something else outside the norm: the number of abandoned retail establishments. Borders? Closed. The Petco in our area? Closing. Jonn’s furniture stores? On it’s way out. Say it ain’t so, Joe! I frequented these businesses, and their closures are turning my world topsy-turvy. How many vacant building will there be? Take Borders, for example, people have spent Saturday nights there browsing bookshelves with a mocha latte something. I bet some people even slept there, treating the store like a second home. Economists suggest that there’s a rational explanation for these closings, in the spirit of the 1992 presidential election, “It’s the economy, stupid.” OK I’ll buy that, but I’m not stupid, something else is going happening.
I think our culture is changing in unprecedented ways and I’m experiencing culture shock! Things that used to be the norm are no longer normal. I find myself constantly looking around and wondering, “What in the world is going on?” I believe that’s just what these gentlemen are thinking in this video:
Change is inevitable; culture will continue to change whether we like it or not. The key is how we handle it. We can laugh at the absurd, be angry at the injustice and promise to make a difference. What’s the long-term prognosis for our world? From your perspective, over the next twenty years, will things improve or deteriorate? Why?
2 comments:
Wow... I couldn't the video up at first but I just got to see it. It looks British. No words but the message is clear. It's funny how even the men who seemed to have no clue as to what wsa going on just went along with the charade: accepting the gift, bowing, kissing the hand... their faces looked questionable but no one seemed to "question" what was happening. I think that the biggest commentary on our changing society is that even those who object to certain cultural changes go beyond the limits of passive "tolerance" of difference to becoming a "follower".
Yes, we need to be careful about who and what we follow.
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