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| Antique example of unnecessary brain-strain from the paleo-human era |
The problem with what I think of as modern people - which is pretty much any college graduate under 40, and quite a few older than that, across all points of the political spectrum - is that they are largely ignorant and are happy to remain just that way. Oh yes, they know a great deal about TV shows and popular music and video games, and who's hot and who's not, and the precise number of carbs and calories in a rice cake, and whether Lindsay Lohan is in or out of jail this week, what arugula is, and even the airfares to Quito or Katmandu. And of course they can work all sorts of ingenious tricks with the fab gadget of the moment, singlehandedly, even while doing pilates and six other things at the same time.
They are also, with few exceptions, quick - very quick - to let you know how stupid and backwards you are, you skanky holdover from the barbaric twentieth century, as well as arrogantly proud to be the last, best gift of the universe to planet Earth; and they think any idea thought up in the last 15 minutes is for the best, in this the best of all possible worlds - as long as it was thought up by somebody cool at this particular moment. If you were cool this morning, or yesterday, or last week, sorry - that just doesn't cut it. Better yet if you are going to be cool 15 minutes from now. In coolness, as in sex, anticipation is ninety percent of the pleasure, you know?
Of course, this tendency to think that you and all of your (very cool) friends are the smartest, prettiest, most wonderful things ever seen under the sun - excepting only Lady Gaga, and she's already used up 10 of her 15 minutes - is part of human nature, and is an old, old story.
It's also part of the natural effect that unmerited wealth brings to young people. History books, not to mention what used to be called literature, are dripping with accounts of conceited young fops making perfect asses of themselves. And yes, most - I don't say all, but most - people in this country, measured by the standards of living of all the world before the mid-twentieth century, are now rich kids, no matter what their actual income may be in dollars. And behaving in the cavalier, self-absorbed fashion that rich kids have always done, while complaining loudly and long how unhappy they are. Which is what happens when you don't have to work too very hard to survive.
Continued after the jump . . .
