I want to defend one aspect of queen size beds. It’s the length not the width that’s important. People have gotten taller on average. I’m 6ft-2 and appreciate the extra length. Now that I think about it Americans have probably gotten wider on average as well, but that’s an entirely different issue.
Other than that though I can’t tell you how much I feel everything in this post, especially around Christmas.
wonderful post. i could see a similar "Qualinesia" perspective on age of consumer products. We are taught by marketing that we should also value new things. Narrow warranties that seem to support durable claims actually do the opposite. In some cases, such as taxes, depreciation reinforces this. I have learned this from the pointy end by personally repairing two major appliances in my home this year - we all other options, including hiring a repair person, would have cost as much MORE than a new unit, and both repairs took less than an hour. I can't imagine this is not intentional.
Lloyd, thank you for writing about this. You cover a lot. What I would add firstly is something CS. Lewis was corrected about, his faith in progress. A friend told him it was simply 'chronological snobbery' without any logic to support it. Lewis, as president of the Oxford Socratic Society for 15 years, had to agree.
Secondly, what has been put forward as one of the underlying root causes of what you are describing is that we arrived into the 20th century in psychological terms as the 'empty self'. I cannot explain all this in a comment reply here (I have written about it on my substack), but suffice to say, this empty self needed to be filled. It's all counterfeit 'filling' because it is a hole inside ourselves that we are trying to fill and so it will never happen, unless we transform ourselves from the empty self. Something I'm also working on.
Really great question. And you want the answer to both in a Substack comment? 😗.
In summary.
The cause of the Empty Self, it is said when we lost family, community and tradition. I wrote about it here: https://shorturl.at/TnxqA
It links to a second concept that defines the culture we live in as a ‘pseudoculture’ not a true culture. And therefore the way through is to create a new ‘true culture’. https://shorturl.at/oyqs1
And I’m just finishing an article on the next part because I have a lot of people asking me to show where we take it from here.
True, I believe as well that we've lost our sense of purpose because we lost family, community, and tradition. I'd also throw in there the dismissal of faith and the church in people's lives, the believe that there's something bigger than us in life to give us a sense of purpose and knowledge between right and wrong. After all, trying to be humanistic about petty crime has only emboldened petty criminals to become greater offenders, and given people at the edge less of a disincentive not to do the same thing. Punishment is a necessary deterrent for a functional society.
As far as connection to the real world to create a true culture, I think that's where the importance of the natural world comes into play. Too many people spend too much time in the virtual world of computers at work, home, and for leisure. Throw in smartphones and gaming consoles, and we're seemingly overwhelmed by the constant barrage of electronic stimuli. You unplug some of these people, and like a heroine addict, they loser their mind and can't wait to get back to their fix of electronic overload.
We're seeing a profound change in the values of Millennials and Zoomers from previous generations, in that they are much more attuned to enjoying experiences rather than things. Still, that comes with a caveat, in that so many of them are doing it out of FOMO for their Snapchat or Instagram page, rather than just taking it in at the time. My hope is that these younger generations also find meaningfulness in the simple, mundane aspects of the day-to-day grind, rather than always chasing the big, fancy experience. Enjoying a leisurely morning in a porch rocking chair, watching the sun rise, while sipping on a cup of tea and hearing the birds welcome the morning's arrival, is a simple but profound pleasure I would like to experience much more frequently than time allows.
Yes, yes, yes. The natural world. We’ve been with her for millions of years so our connection is deep and healing. Aristotle and Descartes took us away from her but it’s time to make the journey home. Totally agree. Thank you.
And in my opinion, ‘true culture’ that connects us to the Earth, the Cosmos and our ancestors, gives us meaning and purpose. We don’t need to get it from our work because we already know we have a place and a meaningful life. That is my experience. Lots more to say. Enjoy the weekend.
We seem to be partial outliers but I’m not sure whether it’s a DNA thing descending from a long line of Scots-Irish settlers of New England and the Old Northwest, but we have a house that on its own generally stays in the 60s temperature wise and drawers and closets full of sweaters and sweatshirts for layering. And we generally vacation north of the English Midlands when we travel. I remember reading Vance Packard on my own at university along with similar books on such oddities as the American funeral industry.
I find it interesting that Packard wrote about the perils of an evolving America (and Western society, by extension) when he built the equivalent of what was known as the American Rolls Royce and chased the luxury market consumer—until it went belly-up in '58.
I'm currently reading Henry Miller's "Air-Conditioned Nightmare" from 1945, describing the time he spent roadtripping across the US during the war, while seemingly hating most of what he saw. He spends a lot of time railing against the ugliness of business and technology and industry, in his hallucinogenic loopy Miller-esque way, of course. I'd never heard of this Packard book but it sounds like it might be a good pairing. I thought Nader was the first to cover this ground.
I guess you are here to curtail my freedom of speech ? WUT, I CAN'T MAKE A POETICALLY EMPHATIC STATEMENT WITHOUT GIVING YOU A PANIC ATTACK (should I go "Straight to the Dean's Office!" ?! ) 😂
Actually the major contributor (to the roadway/streets safety issue in this country) is bad unsafe roadway design, and then that is combined with prevailing “people issues” i.e. selfish or just ignorant driver behavioral issues/trends. So, while absolutely true (THE "ME" GENERATION CHARACTERIZATION), it is also an “if the shoe fits, wear it” characterization and not something you need to have a panic attack over when I point it out conceptually. It only applies to those that it is applicable to (of which there are many).
I want to defend one aspect of queen size beds. It’s the length not the width that’s important. People have gotten taller on average. I’m 6ft-2 and appreciate the extra length. Now that I think about it Americans have probably gotten wider on average as well, but that’s an entirely different issue.
Other than that though I can’t tell you how much I feel everything in this post, especially around Christmas.
wonderful post. i could see a similar "Qualinesia" perspective on age of consumer products. We are taught by marketing that we should also value new things. Narrow warranties that seem to support durable claims actually do the opposite. In some cases, such as taxes, depreciation reinforces this. I have learned this from the pointy end by personally repairing two major appliances in my home this year - we all other options, including hiring a repair person, would have cost as much MORE than a new unit, and both repairs took less than an hour. I can't imagine this is not intentional.
Lloyd, thank you for writing about this. You cover a lot. What I would add firstly is something CS. Lewis was corrected about, his faith in progress. A friend told him it was simply 'chronological snobbery' without any logic to support it. Lewis, as president of the Oxford Socratic Society for 15 years, had to agree.
Secondly, what has been put forward as one of the underlying root causes of what you are describing is that we arrived into the 20th century in psychological terms as the 'empty self'. I cannot explain all this in a comment reply here (I have written about it on my substack), but suffice to say, this empty self needed to be filled. It's all counterfeit 'filling' because it is a hole inside ourselves that we are trying to fill and so it will never happen, unless we transform ourselves from the empty self. Something I'm also working on.
What was the cause of the development of the 'empty self' and what fixes it?
Really great question. And you want the answer to both in a Substack comment? 😗.
In summary.
The cause of the Empty Self, it is said when we lost family, community and tradition. I wrote about it here: https://shorturl.at/TnxqA
It links to a second concept that defines the culture we live in as a ‘pseudoculture’ not a true culture. And therefore the way through is to create a new ‘true culture’. https://shorturl.at/oyqs1
And I’m just finishing an article on the next part because I have a lot of people asking me to show where we take it from here.
True, I believe as well that we've lost our sense of purpose because we lost family, community, and tradition. I'd also throw in there the dismissal of faith and the church in people's lives, the believe that there's something bigger than us in life to give us a sense of purpose and knowledge between right and wrong. After all, trying to be humanistic about petty crime has only emboldened petty criminals to become greater offenders, and given people at the edge less of a disincentive not to do the same thing. Punishment is a necessary deterrent for a functional society.
As far as connection to the real world to create a true culture, I think that's where the importance of the natural world comes into play. Too many people spend too much time in the virtual world of computers at work, home, and for leisure. Throw in smartphones and gaming consoles, and we're seemingly overwhelmed by the constant barrage of electronic stimuli. You unplug some of these people, and like a heroine addict, they loser their mind and can't wait to get back to their fix of electronic overload.
We're seeing a profound change in the values of Millennials and Zoomers from previous generations, in that they are much more attuned to enjoying experiences rather than things. Still, that comes with a caveat, in that so many of them are doing it out of FOMO for their Snapchat or Instagram page, rather than just taking it in at the time. My hope is that these younger generations also find meaningfulness in the simple, mundane aspects of the day-to-day grind, rather than always chasing the big, fancy experience. Enjoying a leisurely morning in a porch rocking chair, watching the sun rise, while sipping on a cup of tea and hearing the birds welcome the morning's arrival, is a simple but profound pleasure I would like to experience much more frequently than time allows.
Yes, yes, yes. The natural world. We’ve been with her for millions of years so our connection is deep and healing. Aristotle and Descartes took us away from her but it’s time to make the journey home. Totally agree. Thank you.
And in my opinion, ‘true culture’ that connects us to the Earth, the Cosmos and our ancestors, gives us meaning and purpose. We don’t need to get it from our work because we already know we have a place and a meaningful life. That is my experience. Lots more to say. Enjoy the weekend.
We seem to be partial outliers but I’m not sure whether it’s a DNA thing descending from a long line of Scots-Irish settlers of New England and the Old Northwest, but we have a house that on its own generally stays in the 60s temperature wise and drawers and closets full of sweaters and sweatshirts for layering. And we generally vacation north of the English Midlands when we travel. I remember reading Vance Packard on my own at university along with similar books on such oddities as the American funeral industry.
I find it interesting that Packard wrote about the perils of an evolving America (and Western society, by extension) when he built the equivalent of what was known as the American Rolls Royce and chased the luxury market consumer—until it went belly-up in '58.
The irony is palpable.
Vance Packard had nothing to do with the car company, he described himself as a "farm boy."
Wrong Packard, my mistake.
I'm currently reading Henry Miller's "Air-Conditioned Nightmare" from 1945, describing the time he spent roadtripping across the US during the war, while seemingly hating most of what he saw. He spends a lot of time railing against the ugliness of business and technology and industry, in his hallucinogenic loopy Miller-esque way, of course. I'd never heard of this Packard book but it sounds like it might be a good pairing. I thought Nader was the first to cover this ground.
IT'S THE "ME" GENERATION WITH EVERY GENERATION IN "UH-MURICA".
THEN IF IT'S EVERY GENERATION, WE'RE ALL TO BLAME. NO ONE IS WITHOUT GUILT AND MANKIND AS THE SPECIES IS THE PROBLEM.
For fuck's sake, stop shouting and turn off the caps lock.
I guess you are here to curtail my freedom of speech ? WUT, I CAN'T MAKE A POETICALLY EMPHATIC STATEMENT WITHOUT GIVING YOU A PANIC ATTACK (should I go "Straight to the Dean's Office!" ?! ) 😂
Actually the major contributor (to the roadway/streets safety issue in this country) is bad unsafe roadway design, and then that is combined with prevailing “people issues” i.e. selfish or just ignorant driver behavioral issues/trends. So, while absolutely true (THE "ME" GENERATION CHARACTERIZATION), it is also an “if the shoe fits, wear it” characterization and not something you need to have a panic attack over when I point it out conceptually. It only applies to those that it is applicable to (of which there are many).
Internet etiquette 101 … Thou shalt not use caps lock when posting full comments.
Dude, I'm 53 and I learned that decades ago. It's the capitalization equivalent of screaming.
OK BILLY !!!