Giving Meaning to Your Life...
I saw that as a headline on a magazine cover the other day whilst I was waiting at the till queue at Asda. That's quite a promise to make readers on behalf of what is undoubtedly an article running not more than 3,000 words. It also seemed somehow symptomatic of the times we live in - not so long ago people would be looking to religion to provide some kind of purpose to their lives. For the secular, there were always such things as political ideologies (especially those of the left, Marxism and socialism particularly, but not forgetting the various flavours of fascism, which were very popular for quite a while), moral crusades to end slavery, child labour, the eating of dogs or the ritual disembowelment of senior citizens, or even more esoteric preoccupations such as the quest for knowledge for its own sake, artistic excellence or philosophical enlightenment. Nowadays, we're apparently down to supermarket glossies as sources of inspiration for our lives!
But just what does 'give meaning' to the lives of people today, if not any of the above? The most obvious answer would seem to be the quest for material gain. There's no doubt that profit has become the most powerful driving force in Tony Blair's New Britain - it's the bottom line, the only measure which really counts in any field of endeavour these days: the profit margin. The idea that happiness can be gained through the ownership of material goods is a necessary corollary to this relentless pursuit of profits. To keep the profit margin up, you have to shift more of your goods, which means convincing the consumer that they just can't live without them, whether they be anal hair depilators, oil-fired explodable thongs or dog shit flavoured crisps. Besides, without - for want of a better term - any spiritual aspect to life, what else is there other than materialistic consumerism? There's no doubt that the popular mass culture thrown up by modern society does its best to strangle not just religious spirituality ( look at the way anyone who actually tries to enact Christian values such as peace and love for one's fellow man, are decried in the press and portrayed as naive idiots and meddlers), but any form of artistic or intellectual expression which falls outside of narrowly prescribed 'traditional' norms (again, witness not only press reactions to modern art, literature or philosophy, but also the way in which education is increasingly implied to be of value only if it has an obvious practical application).
Nevertheless, people still seem to sense that something is missing from their lives, something which material possessions cannot satisfy. So, inevitably, they grope around blindly for something to fill this void: New Age bollocks; pseudo-religious cults; celebrity worship; devotion to football clubs; the quest for trivial knowledge; proficiency at computer games. The list is seemingly endless. Interestingly, moral crusades are still quite popular, but only if they have celebrity endorsement - those starving millions don't exist until Bono says they do, apparently. But of course, none of it really seems to work. People find that their lives still seem to have no meaning... A lot of the problem lies in the fact that people all too frequently confuse the idea of giving meaning to their lives with the concept of moral direction. In large part, I suspect, this stems from the deeply embedded idea that only religion can provide an individual or a society with a moral framework in which to work. However, religion simultaneously links this moral framework with the idea that life has s0me God-given purpose. This isn't necessarily true - you can live your life to strict moral code without it actually having to have any particular purpose. At the end of the day, I can't help but feel that it is a lack of an adequate moral compass to guide them through life which really troubles people, rather than a lack of 'meaning'. Indeed, I'm a great believer in living a life without any overriding meaning and purpose. I'm perfectly happy just drifting on the seas of fate, waiting to see where the currents of chance take me next. Besides, just look at the kind of people who believe that there is some great purpose to their lives: religious fanatics like Osama bin Laden and George W Bush, political despots like Pol Pot and genocidal maniacs like Hitler. I'll just keep meandering.
But just what does 'give meaning' to the lives of people today, if not any of the above? The most obvious answer would seem to be the quest for material gain. There's no doubt that profit has become the most powerful driving force in Tony Blair's New Britain - it's the bottom line, the only measure which really counts in any field of endeavour these days: the profit margin. The idea that happiness can be gained through the ownership of material goods is a necessary corollary to this relentless pursuit of profits. To keep the profit margin up, you have to shift more of your goods, which means convincing the consumer that they just can't live without them, whether they be anal hair depilators, oil-fired explodable thongs or dog shit flavoured crisps. Besides, without - for want of a better term - any spiritual aspect to life, what else is there other than materialistic consumerism? There's no doubt that the popular mass culture thrown up by modern society does its best to strangle not just religious spirituality ( look at the way anyone who actually tries to enact Christian values such as peace and love for one's fellow man, are decried in the press and portrayed as naive idiots and meddlers), but any form of artistic or intellectual expression which falls outside of narrowly prescribed 'traditional' norms (again, witness not only press reactions to modern art, literature or philosophy, but also the way in which education is increasingly implied to be of value only if it has an obvious practical application).
Nevertheless, people still seem to sense that something is missing from their lives, something which material possessions cannot satisfy. So, inevitably, they grope around blindly for something to fill this void: New Age bollocks; pseudo-religious cults; celebrity worship; devotion to football clubs; the quest for trivial knowledge; proficiency at computer games. The list is seemingly endless. Interestingly, moral crusades are still quite popular, but only if they have celebrity endorsement - those starving millions don't exist until Bono says they do, apparently. But of course, none of it really seems to work. People find that their lives still seem to have no meaning... A lot of the problem lies in the fact that people all too frequently confuse the idea of giving meaning to their lives with the concept of moral direction. In large part, I suspect, this stems from the deeply embedded idea that only religion can provide an individual or a society with a moral framework in which to work. However, religion simultaneously links this moral framework with the idea that life has s0me God-given purpose. This isn't necessarily true - you can live your life to strict moral code without it actually having to have any particular purpose. At the end of the day, I can't help but feel that it is a lack of an adequate moral compass to guide them through life which really troubles people, rather than a lack of 'meaning'. Indeed, I'm a great believer in living a life without any overriding meaning and purpose. I'm perfectly happy just drifting on the seas of fate, waiting to see where the currents of chance take me next. Besides, just look at the kind of people who believe that there is some great purpose to their lives: religious fanatics like Osama bin Laden and George W Bush, political despots like Pol Pot and genocidal maniacs like Hitler. I'll just keep meandering.
Labels: Religious Rants, Tales of Everyday Madness
posted by Doc Sleaze at
10:49 pm
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