A Shallow Culture Destroys Itself

Here is a puzzler for you. What do Cap and Trade and Michael Jackson have in common? Both are signs of a culture that lives in the shallows while it is destroyed from the depths. Both indicate an obsession with pop culture and political correctness and a near total disregard for facts and defining issues.

On one hand this administration has passed a far reaching Cap and Trade bill through the House of Representatives that will have far dire consequences for small businesses, household budgets, jobs and the economic health of this country. Not one member of the House could have read this entire bill as over 300 pages were introduced in the last hours before it was passed but its inevitable effect will be to raise energy prices, push marginal businesses out of existence and increase unemployment with no evidence that it will have any effect on global warming, a concept that many deny even exists. Our only hope is that the Senate will see the truth of this bill and vote it down.

Meanwhile we are subjected to near continuous coverage of the Michael Jackson death and funeral. It is fine to mourn the death of a popular singer but this coverage seems to have gone a bit over board and ignores the controversies of a man who paid $30 million to have a child drop molestation charges while admitting to having shared a bed with adolescents, entered a sham marriage for publicity only to insist and pay for sole custody of his children, one of whom he once hung by his feet out over his balcony for his fans and who has a history of self mutilation and apparent drug abuse.

We all have problems and issues but what has Michael done to receive such adoration? He has a shallow history of humanitarian service. I have only heard of two instances, one a visit to a burn unit and the second his paying for a dying child to see his family. For a man who spent so much money on his own indulgences, this is hardly an effort at all. Meanwhile, family of recently killed U.S. soldiers complain that the deaths of their loved ones were hardly mentioned at all and no in depth coverage was given to these true heroes, people who put their lives on the line and gave up their own hopes so as to help others and be of service to their fellow Americans. One who thought only of himself is immortalized while those who gave up all they had for others are forgotten. All of this points to a culture that is obsessed with how things look and too distracted by its self to look in depth at issues that are vitally important and which have far reaching effects.

Small businesses, the ones who put everything on the line to product goods, provide services and create jobs in this economy, are aghast at what Congress is about to do to them. All of this is being done on the hope of somehow creating new "green" jobs, despite the facts that wind and solar power cannot provide this nation's needs and have so far proven to be unviable alternatives. It sounds good though, so let's ignore the facts and economic reality, let's ignore the bankruptcies, hardships and chaos that Cap and Trade will cause, and let's do it because it makes us feel good. Never mind that in the end it will make us all feel a bit foolish, a lot broke and cause more harm than good.

Those who do seek honor, who make sacrifices and who seek to do right with their lives and serve others, are ignored, often ridiculed and largely unappreciated. I can fully understand the pain of family who hear nothing of the sacrifice of their sons and daughters and cannot get away from news about someone who was rewarded immensely for his talents and who died in debt because of his lack of self restraint and who used his wealth to buy exemption from the law. We adore the wrong people and show little appreciation on those to whom we owe are very existence.

Hopefully this will be a wake up call for families and leaders and especially for our young people. Is this really what we want to be about? Are we to exist only for our own self gratification and for the ability to think we are good when in fact we are acting wholly selfishly and destructively? The real problem is not in a Congress that thinks of themselves as Hollywood stars and not with a talented entertainer who allowed his self indulgence to destroy himself. The problem is in all of us who refuse to see the world as it is instead of how we want it to be and who like to think that we are part of the cultural elite who in fact are themselves nothing more than the pampered, uneducated and inexperienced lucky few who look or sound good. We need to look at this world for what it is and decide what we can really do to improve the lives of those who depend on us and of those generations to follow.

We need to adore those who have learned the value of self sacrifice, of giving to others and of being united with those around them. We need to clean up our environment but to do so in a responsible way that understands the effects one action can have on so many people and our responsibility to those around us. We need to take action only after really studying the issues, ignoring political correctness and rhetoric and taking action based on real facts, with a realistic view of what can be done and the effect one action can have on so many. We should never act on hope but should hope that our efforts to act on facts will have the results we expect, an expectation based on real science and real consequences. We should never attach our love to someone because of their popularity but should be careful to lovingly appreciate those who make sacrifice so that we can live better. It is time to get out of the shallows and take the plunge into the depths. That is where our actions have real meaning.

Father Steven Foppiano