Sentimentality... from me?

We have taller buildings, but shorter tempers;
wider freeways, but narrower viewpoints;
we spend more, but have less;
we buy more, but enjoy it less.

We have bigger houses and smaller families;
more conveniences, but less time;
we have more degrees, but less sense;
more knowledge, but less judgment;
more experts, but more problems;
more medicine, but less wellness.

We drink too much, smoke too much,
spend too recklessly, laugh too little,
drive too fast, get too angry too quickly,
stay up too late, get up too tired,
read too seldom, watch TV too much,
and pray too seldom.

We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values.
We talk too much, love too seldom and lie too often.
We've learned how to make a living, but not a life.
We've added years to life, not life to years.

We've been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble
crossing the street to meet the new neighbor.
We've conquered outer space, but not inner space.
We've done larger things, but not better things.
We've cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul.
We've split the atom, but not our prejudice.
We write more, but learn less.
We plan more, but accomplish less.

We've learned to rush, but not to wait.
We have higher incomes; but lower morals.
We have more food but less appeasement.
We build more computers to hold more information,
to produce more copies than ever, but have less communication.
We've become long on quantity, but short on quality.

These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion.
Tall men, and short character.
Steep profits, and shallow relationships.
These are the times of world peace, but domestic warfare.
More leisure and less fun; more kinds of food, but less nutrition.

These are days of two incomes, but more divorce.
Fancier houses, but broken homes.
These are days of quick trips, disposable diapers, throwaway
morality, one-night stands, overweight bodies,
and pills that do everything from cheer, to quiet, to kill.

It's a time when there is much in the show window, and nothing in the stockroom.
Indeed it is all true.

-Anonymous

It's tough to comment on this one. It's pretty clear, and fairly succint. It's all well and good to sit here and point out problems in this world of ours. Anyone with eyes can do that. The challenge comes in taking this and fixing it. So, anyone up for a social revolution? Say, Saturday? Oh, you're busy, well, aren't we all.

As Mahatma Ghandi once said, "You must be the change you see in the world." Pretty solid advice I'd say. Most of us will admit that there is more to this life than things. If happiness isn't really based on how much stuff one has, why do we all keep buying stuff? Savings rates in this country are at an atrocious one percent. We are too busy trying to keep up the Joneses today to realize that tomorrow, it won't matter what kind of car you own or how big your house is.

The answer is not to throw away everything you own and start burning your money. We're only here for so long. It's stupid to be caught up in what we don't have. We will never have everything. Instead, just cherish all that you have. Ironic that this is Valentine's day, no?

Life is what you make of it. If you want to go around complaining about how pathetic this world can be, I'm not going to stop you. This world can be an embarrisingly miserable place sometimes. So do something about it.

To quote another great individual, from my good friend Smokey the Bear:

"Remember kids, only you can prevent forest fires."