Why do you despise television and video games so much? Television is as much a learning tool as the internet.
I never said I despised either. I used them as one example out of many. Yes I personally never watch TV or play games, but I have no quarrel with the use of them sparingly; it is the mentality which I speak of.
As for our "stagnation"... how are we stagnated? We have more free thinkers than ever before, we are more highly educated than ever before, we are making unprecedented movement in new technology. I simply don't see this stagnation you're talking about.
We have more free thinkers perhaps because we have 6 billion people on earth at the moment; not really a fair comparison when you take into account the majority are not.
You say we are more highly educated, but who is we? Are you merely refering to knowledge of the advancement of science and the like? A man can memorize a million things, but yet not comprehend a single one of them. Perhaps you refer to education systems in comparison to the past? In answer to that I only say that I was never arguing to go back in time, but to cut the population.
Stagnation is inevitable when you do not exercise your abilities. If you do not move around, your body gets bogged down with waste and poisons; it is the same for the mind. I suppose this is where we will probably differ, but again my original point was convenience as an example.
Why read when you can watch TV? Why cook when you can go to Mcdonalds? Why walk when you can drive? Why think when you can follow? This society is built around those things, and capitalism in particular is hell bent on making people stupid, not educating them. Educating people does not make them rich. How can one not be in awe over the lack of importance of the true self in a world of pointless endeavors? How are we ever to become a more advanced race if all we do is chase money?
Stagnation is symptomatic of the individual. It's the responsibility of the individual to persevere above "stagnation". Don't blame society for creating convenience, blame the people.
That is exactly what I am doing. Society is this way as a result of these people; but I see that you are leading into:
Besides, shouldn't a truly strong person be able to overcome fluffy pillows and remote controls? I would rather have people who are strong by choice than strong by necessity.
Of course, and so would I. Again, I never proposed we throw everyone into the woods and say "okay survive" (Though that would be funny as hell), I was speaking of a population reduction, and I really do believe that those people would wake up if they were allowed to get in touch with their instincts for a bit; or were let alone from the incessant chanting all about them that they are subjected to from birth.
You say you want people to be strong by choice; well first they have to be aware that they actually have one. People are educated in everything but the wisdom to know themselves. Why are they so miserable? They usually assume it is a lack of money, or it's "God's fault".
It is our current society that truly separates the weak from the strong, because it's far more difficult to vanquish digital cable and online shopping than it is to survive in the woods for a few days. Those who are able to be strong in the face of the Teletubbies earn my respect more than those battling wolves in the wilderness, because the former's strength comes from the will, the latter from instinctual need to survive.
Sorry, but I cannot praise a world that rolls around in money and would take all the natural rights of those that follow in the wake of their greed. I cannot support destroying the minds of our youth with the lies of society; and I certainly don't see the collective benefit of a few strong people who do not care about the future of our species. Hell, I haven't spoken to anyone in months, and I am cool with that, but even so I still care about the actual mental advancement of humanity.
If a man cannot do the most simple and natural things in life, then how is he to have a better understanding of himself? What a tragedy for a person to never have gone hungry for a few days; to never have seen a proper sunrise, to never have been brought to the brink of death and lived to tell of it, to never have walked for weeks and spent the night under the stars; to never have even looked up at the stars. You compare strength, but how can a man know strength if he does not know the natural world, or even himself?
