Looking out on the world there seems to me a facade of strong walls. When did we place so much faith in systems? Economic, Medical, Mechanical, Military, Educational, Governmental, Religious systems. After all, honestly, it appears to me that the world is a nervous, jittery place. People are always talking about the last big disaster or the current declining economical situation or the dilapidating political sphere. Who will save us now! Though it is unlikely that we admit it, worry seems to be the common air we breath and thus the venture capitalist's in order to secure their futures are promising secure futures to us (built, ironically, upon borrowed money).
I'm not one to talk much about the socio-economic position of our country and the globalized western world, but I can sense an pretentious spirit of optimistic strength in a mad system of money-making machines. It is though that all things will continue as they have! Sure, maybe they will, but what have we created in our capital ventures? The height of our systems? Wal-Mart's? But Wal-Mart, in the end when our fascinations with convenience and mass-production ends, destroys creativity and communities and thus personal identities. With the loss of creativity (the state of modern art is computers) and communities (aka cookie-cutter subdivisions) and identities (Hannah Montana) life surely seems to be empty at the end of the day.
After all that is significant is removed, people need, in order to pacify the time, things to take their mind off the circumstances. Welcome, Entertainment Industry! Please make yourself at home! In the age of "Science" and "Technology" we have desensitized ourselves to the deadening of our senses through mass intakes of "entertainment" and "amusement." Amusing Oursevles to Death. With the deadening of the senses comes the deadening of the mind and all the characteristics that make for a civilized people. A modern "Cultured" person with probably have killed 100-200 persons by the end of the day on their X-Box.
Adding to the problem is the "specialization" of academia in the sciences and humanities. Instead of a liberal education where one is taught world views, philosophies, literature, culture our high school students and early college students are told that the "end all" is the size of your salary. Success in life is de-valued to monetary systems. With this view in mind college students begin a journey down the road of "specialization" in a niche market where they are highly marketable and thus highly "valuable." It is not that specialization is wrong, rather the time of the student's life is wrong. The college student is ripe and most are thirsty for "knowledge." Instead of being taught to think and the interact with the views of the past and present they are taught formulas and procedures that will ultimately be left to machines. So what are we left with? We are left with people who are specialized to the core but cannot think. So we are left with a philosophy where everybody's opinion is not only valid, but true, and the only opinion that is not true is the one that makes an exclusive truth claim.
I haven't lived enough to prescribe the remedies to our plights of "Americanism de-civilization", but I have lived long enough to know that great civilization usually end up destroying themselves from within before they are destroyed from without. It was said by one of the Emperor's during the height of the Roman Empire that if the he (the emperor) would only give his people "bread and the circus" they (the people) would be happy and thus remain good citizens. It may be argued that this mentality has taken over our American way of life, though it is a wrong argument, even though there are significant similarities, to assume that the American destiny is the same as the Roman one. Nonetheless, given the similarities, our society built upon greed (aka unchecked capitalism), unrelenting entertainment, and lack of mental power is the perfect medicine for de-generation. Call me a prophet, or call me a fanatic, or call me whatever you'd like, but the proof is in the history of once-great-civilizations.
Nonetheless, there is hope for a society such as ours which walks on unstable ground. First the mercy and grace of an everlasting Father is long, permitting the changing of heart and mind. Secondly, the world-changing power of the gospel of an everlasting Christ has long-lasting affects upon a de-generative people, and lastly, the abating power of the everlasting Spirit upon the power of evil causes us to take comfort in the ultimate victory which is Christ's.