A Culture of Violent Mediocrity

"It was just something to do", said one of the teenagers outside a Best Buy in Pittsburgh, PA. They just bought the new I-Pad and immediately posted a video of themselves smashing their purchase on U-Tube. It was not a protest against Apple--actually, they love Apple computers. Why did they do it? They wanted to be first. They wanted to be the first to chart the wide open frontier of smashing the first I-Pad on U-Tube.

Who are they? They are a group of directionless youth trying to get famous for doing nothing. Who knows what could come of this? They may get a chance to go on some talk show and share about their 'nothing' act. Actually, a lot of people who go on these shows really talk about 'nothing'.

In the past, academic achievement, sporting prowess, generous giving, kind service, and other forms of commendable conduct found place in the halls of honor. Our youth pursued these things. They worked hard and made worthwhile contributions to our society. Today, they smash I-Pads. In a way, I cannot completely fault the 'I-Pad Pounders' for their conduct because they have an audience that desires to view these things. This audience craves sensationalism. They crave entertainment of the worst kind. I wasn't surprised that they received close to 200,000 hits on their U-Tube site. Sadly, as long as they have viewers, they will continually give expression to their vicious visuals.

With the onset of the internet and companies like U-Tube, anyone can express themselves. Some of it is good, but a lot is just trash.

This culture of violent mediocrity, how did it come about? We see everything from smashing I-pads, defacing public property, school fights, sexual acts, and other shocking, perverse video streaming into our homes via the internet. It's epidemic; people trying to gain notoriety through violent, senseless acts.

Why is this happening? I have three reasons: no hope, no discipline, and no morality.

When you turn on the news you hear about global warming, terrorist attacks, unemployment, the federal deficit, dwindling natural resources, and sport/political icons cheating on their spouses. The culture paints a picture of hopelessness (the 'ratings hungry' networks don't help either with their focus on shock value news). It can create an attitude of "Why even try?" Cynicism abounds. Hopelessness reigns.

Work is also a foreign word. A culture of affluence breeds laziness. It weakens and destroys discipline. In the waning days of the Roman empire, no one wanted to farm. Everyone moved to the city and expected the slaves to do everything. They spent their time watching gladiator and circus spectacles, drinking wine, and eating olives. History repeats itself today. America's predicament strikes a haunting resemblance to Ancient Rome. We have farmed off our industrial might to China, India, Southeast Asia, and South America. We no longer make the bulk of our own tools, clothes, toys, chemicals, building materials, computers, and other manufactured goods. We now spend our time watching football, baseball, reality TV, and other entertaining distractions. We live for pleasure. Hedonism reigns. The youth have followed our lead. They now spend hard earned money on I-Pads, only to smash them on U-Tube. Could this be a protest against modernism and technology? I don't think so. They just did it for the shock value.

Please understand, I grew up in the super hedonistic eighties. I did my own share of stupid, 'nothing' acts. My father's generation, however, worked their tail off for everything they got. They wouldn't even think of destroying anything of value just for the fun of it. The 1929 Depression shaped their world view and work ethic. They were happy to find scarce jobs and toil for their pay. Today, most of our service positions are done by immigrants, thankful for the opportunity to work. Maybe these new, first generation peoples will cause a resurgence of the old-time American work ethic. I pray they do. I pray we wake up.

A society built on relativism will eventually collapse. A unified understanding of right and wrong must galvanize the core of any civilization in order for it to last. If not, chaos will eventually reign. Peace always fosters the ability to live and thrive. Good morals produces peace. It's a fact. Recently, there has been story after sordid story of people stealing money from the elderly. They gained their trust and then rip off their whole life savings. I'm also alarmed with all the recent abductions, rapes, and killings of innocent children and teenagers. Tell me if the lucrative sex industry doesn't have an influence on these pedophiles. Pax Americana has been replaced by Violenta Americana.

Morality is not based on concrete laws anymore, but situational ethics. "I determine what's wrong and right. I am the law and the judge." We've all become little gods scurrying around, conflicting with each other's moral systems. Why are we now surprised when we hear of Enron scandals, financial scams with the elderly, gruesome murders, the molestation of children, and all the other amoral sewage strewn on the glittering pavements of our modern cities and lives? We ultimately made the societal bed we sleep in every night. We created the chaos.

Our youth are being swept into this river of immorality and fouling the waters with their own refuse. Smashing an I-Pad is tame in comparison to the other sordid things being done in the name of entertainment. However, it is troubling to see our young men smashing a piece of amazing technology when they could be designing the same; when they could be designing something even better. What is the solution? In my next article I will talk about this. Let's continue to pray for our nation and youth.