Do we currently stand amid the ruins of civilization?

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   retief2000posted 10 years ago

   Do we currently stand amid the ruins of civilization?
   
   Just as 4th Century Romans stood amid the fragments and hollow edifices of a collapsed civilization, every day we are surrounded by the hollow people of our own collapsed civilization. A society that once looked to the stars as a great opportunity, a final frontier, now wallows in decline as we race toward the lowest denominator. Look at just one photo of a working class crowd emerging from church or going to a baseball game in the 1940's. Men who wore coveralls and worked in factories adorned in ties and jackets.Now people wear pajamas as if they were appropriate attire for anything but sleep

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   dashingscorpioposted 10 years ago

   I too have noticed a lot of pajama wearing in public places too!
   These people go to the bank, grocery store, mall, and fast food restaurants in clearly what appears to be pajama bottoms and sometimes in slippers!
   I don't think it's the end of civilization but it does appear certain people have taken "casual dress" to the extreme. Body hugging black tights/leggings are also being worn (everywhere) by teens and young women these days. Very few men are outraged though.
   Who would have predicted this back in the 80s when it was fashionable to walk around in jogging suits with no plans to exercise.
   When Michael Jackson showed up in court wearing pajama bottoms I thought he'd lost his mind. He was setting a new trend!
   It makes you wonder what's next? Something tells me we're far from hitting the bottom! Just keep on living!
   We'll be longing for the return of the pajama look! LOL!

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      retief2000posted 10 years agoin reply to this

      It is symptomatic of a plunge toward the bottom. We no longer seek our highest, best selves.We make excuses for every shortfall. We reward things that are unremarkable.Star Trek used to be our imagined future, now it is an impossible fantasy

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   Tusitala Tomposted 10 years ago

   Seems you're drawing a very long bow when you talk of falling civilizations and then compare that with the way we've become slack dressers.  But I do get your drift.   The big dreams of a more exciting, adventurous world which we felt when, say, a major war finished, or we landed men on the Moon, seems to have melted away.   People seem more concerned about their next model i-pad or electrical gadget than the 'world at large.'
   
   I expect it's a passing phase.   Maybe quite a long one, but it will pass.  What we need now is some huge project to get the people of the world enthused; maybe a plan to move millions of people to Mars or the Moon, for example.   But in order to get it moving we need charismatic leaders who can think beyond their next few 'personal leadership' years and really embrace the idea that the world is now made up of One people and that Nations are 'on the way out.'

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      retief2000posted 10 years agoin reply to this

      It isn't so much the slack dressing but our perception of civilization and our selves within that context. We no longer value our highest selves.

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   feenixposted 10 years ago

   All I know is the downfall of America began with the "hippie movement" that started back in the mid-'60s.

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      retief2000posted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Ironically, I think it is the peak of American civilization at the same time the "Me Generation" was born, spelling the end of that civilization.We were beating communism,walking on the moon and building the greatest economy in world history.

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      feenixposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Very good points, retief. I guess it could be said that, in many ways, the '60s were "the best of times and the worst of times."  :-)

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   chuckandus6posted 10 years ago

   Yes, this is why Pajama Jeans company make so much money,I personally have not.worn pajama pants or sweatpants out since I was like 12.I will wear leggings with a long shirt that covers them
   I was 80''S child, but I have always like the.wholesome 50/60s better and I love dresses,but it is hard to find one now that is.not.prom night glitzy and is everyday type.

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   M. T. Dremerposted 10 years ago

   No. Eventually this modern civilization will end, as all have before it. But I don't see it happening any time soon. We've come a long way since the 1940s in terms of medical and scientific advancement, not to mention in ethical thinking. Dressing in pajamas might raise a few eyebrows, but it's not an indicator of the fall of civilization.

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   tamarawilhiteposted 10 years ago

   Only in the places where ISIS is taking over.

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      retief2000posted 10 years agoin reply to this

      The idea that ISIS now holds the ancient treasure city of Palmyra is disturbing. The heritage of Western Civilization is under assault and governments are passive in the face of these crimes.

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