by Curt Kovener
(This is an encore column from the Curt Comments archives published in the last millennium. But durned, if it doesn’t seem like it could have been penned just last week.)
The paradox of our time is history is that we have taller buildings, but shorter tempers; wider interstates, but narrower viewpoints; we spend more, but have less; we buy more, but enjoy it less.
We have bigger houses and smaller families; more conveniences, but less time; we have more degrees, but less sense; more knowledge, but less judgment; more experts, but more problems; more medicine, but less wellness.
We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry too quickly, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too seldom, watch TV too much, and pray not nearly enough until the devil is at our unlocked door.
We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often. We’ve learned how to make a living, but not a life. We’ve added years to life, but not life to our years.
We’ve been to the moon and back but have trouble crossing the street to meet the new neighbor.
We’ve conquered outer space, but not inner peace. We’ve done larger things, but not better things. We write more, but learn less. We plan more, but accomplish less. We’ve split the atom, but not our prejudice
We’ve learned to rush, but not to wait. We have higher incomes, but lower values. We build more computers to hold more information, but have less real communication.
We’ve become long on quantity, but short on quality.
These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion; large people and short character; steep profits and shallow relationships.
These are the times of more leisure, but less fun; more kinds of food, but less nutrition. These are days of fancier houses, but broken homes.
These are days of quick trips, disposable diapers, overweight bodies, and pills that do everything from cheer to quiet to kill.
It is a time when there is much in the show window and nothing in the stockroom.
It is a time when you can choose either to make a difference, or do nothing but continue to hope someone else does.
