Results tagged “billboards” from Marilyn Sewell

Let us be clear: the Bible does not say that money is the root of all evil--it says that the love of money is the root of all evil.  Money is merely a means of exchange.  I give my time and energy to some pursuit, and I am given money in return, so that I can exchange it for what I need to sustain myself and others.  It's a mere convenience.  Without money, we would be spending much of our time trading and bartering. 

As societies grew more sophisticated, more complex economic systems evolved.  These systems are based on conceptual models, and they espouse certain values.  This country's system of capitalism assumes that (1) competition is good and yields the best products at the lowest price for the consumer; and (2) when it becomes out of balance in one way or another, the system will "right" itself by market forces.  It is self-regulating, and ultimately serves the greater good. 

All this sounds dandy--except that it just doesn't work quite that way.  The system doesn't take into account (1) the endless and impossible demand for "growth" and "products" (as in GNP), which overtaxes our natural resources; (2) the cost of production to the earth and to living creatures (these costs are dismissed as "externalities"); (3) the needs of those people who fall through the cracks when the market doesn't need them any more; (4) and finally, what this system does to the character and integrity of people and their relationships in a given culture.  It is perhaps this number four that is the least mentioned, but that is perhaps the most pervasive and the most dangerous, for it infects almost every element of our living.

Consider the following:

1.  Drug companies spend more money on gifts and stipends to doctors than they spend on research or consumer advertising.  They give free drug samples, free food, free medical refresher courses, and they pay doctors handsome stipends for marketing lectures.

2.  The popular culture offers very little of value, and yet billions upon billions are spent on producing artistically degraded films, derivative music, and escape literature.  Meantime, serious poets and independent filmmakers, artists and musicians who have much to offer, languish without support.

3.  We are inundated with advertising of all kinds, all day every day.  Billboards ruin our cityscapes and countrysides; radio and television ads can hardly be avoided.  There is no escape.

4.  News shows are really entertainment now, with very little hard news or enlightening analysis--"if it bleeds, it leads."  Their job is not to thrive, but simply to survive.  So how are citizens truly informed in what is supposed to be a democracy?

5. We have been told since the '50's that we need more (of everything from  beautiful hair to bigger houses), and we can't get off the cycle of getting and spending.  There is never enough.

6.  Our best and brightest students, we are told, have been majoring in "finance" for years and years now, and their goal is to get a lot of money--quickly.

I could go on . . . and so could you, but we both get the picture.  How did we get stuck with a system that seems to bring out the worst in so many of our people, that sets people apart instead of bringing them together, that is laying waste to the earth? 

You tell me--I don't know.  But I do know this: the first step in change is awareness.  We have accepted the assumptions of this economic system far too long, and we are sick of heart and sick of character.  We need to stop.  (Well, maybe the economic downturn pushed us to this step.)  We need to re-imagine how we want to live together and how we might more equitably share the resources of the earth. 

As President Obama said today in his press conference, "These changes won't be done in the first 100 days, or in the first year.  But one day we will look back, and we will say, yes, this is when we started, this was when the great change began."

How do you want to live?  Begin to imagine it.  Then begin to go there, as fully as you are able.  We don't have a moment to waste. 

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One really nice thing about flying--perhaps the only nice thing these days--is the opportunity for a little quiet time.  If I can adequately discourage a loquacious seatmate, I generally settle into a thoughtful book of essays or a moving novel.  I often find myself making notes about future sermons, because any break in my usual world of stimulation and task-orientation gives rise to creativity.

And now I read (NY TImes, 9/14) that American Airlines is offering Aircell's in-flight internet access, called Gogo.  Oh, no!  Please, no Go-go!

Passengers are not allowed to use their enhanced laptops to make phone calls, but the capability is built in--so how long will it be before the techno-wizards figure out how to make that "emergency" phone call (to their business partner for strategy, to their girlfriend to make amends, or to their mom on her birthday)?  I venture to say, not long.  Maybe about 20 minutes after lift-off.

Now I understand the need to speak to others about important matters.  I do that all the time myself.  But I also rue the day when I began to listen to other people's conversations in restaurants, in grocery stores, at the pharmacy, in the quiet of the spa, while waiting at the coffee shop for my turn, while walking down the street, while taking a leisurely train trip.. 

A recent train trip to Seattle was perhaps the most offensive cell-phone experience I've had lately, when a young woman treated the rest of the car to her end of an anguished argument with her boyfriend.  After fifteen minutes, I got out of my seat, walked back to her, and said, "Excuse me, but do you know that everyone on this car can hear everything you are saying?"  She thanked me and hung up.

There is a principle we seem to somehow miss in American culture--the principle of considering not just individual desire, but how one's behavior might affect the community.  So someone is allowed to put up a building that is a painful contrast to surrounding historic structures.  Gasoline-powered leaf-blowers, used to render private sidewalks and yards pristine, invade our neighborhoods, and we all suffer from the noise.  Billboards face major roadways, where we cannot fail to see their messages, distracting us from driving and disturbing the beauty of the landscape.  Individuals should not be allowed to invade our senses of hearing, smell, vision, etc., for their own private purposes.

Quite honestly, the cell phone is one of the most disturbing evolutions of this generation, for me. Of course there are legitimate uses for the beast--for road emergencies, to keep up with errant children, to let someone know that you have been irrevocably delayed for whatever reason.  But they should be used in private.  If you count yourself my friend, please do not answer your cell phone while we're conversing, and I'm pouring out my heart to you about . . . whatever.  Congregants and visitors to the church, please do not interrupt the sermon ever again--or at least interrupt it at a funny moment, not when I'm trying to advise people about their immortal souls.  Or for God's sake, please don't allow your phone to ring during the memorial service, as happened in one service I was conducting, when the ring went on and on and on during a most solemn moment in the service.  Thanking you ahead of time.

One playful fellow I know likes to approach people who are having one-sided conversations outloud in public places and just get in on the conversation.  "So how is Sam, anyway?" he'll say to the person speaking on the cell phone.  He figures that if he's pursuant to the conversation, he wants to know the whole story.  I myself have fantasized about handing out a small card to cell phone offenders, with the following message: "Please don't involve me in your private conversation."  But then I feel petty and mean-spirited.  Cell phones turn me  petty and meanspirited, I suppose.  I should work on that.  Maybe meditate more.

But please, please, please, American Airlines!  Don't let them start using cell phones on airplanes.  We should all fly less anyway, to save our dear planet.  Well, if  passengers start talking on cell phones, I won't fly at all.  I can't bear it.

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