Happy Earth Day: It’s Time We Found Our Humanity

By Mark A. Leon

Now that I have your full attention, it is time we bring attention to a very delicate matter that hits many of us close to home:  the decaying of humanity!

You heard me.  Many are quick to blame everyone and everything except ourselves.

It must be corporate greed

No, blame Facebook for providing an isolated window from human interaction

Better yet, blame smartphones for allow us to break up via text

We need to include GPS systems to reinforce that Big Brother is watching

Who can leave out reality TV.  If every occupation and household is a reality show, what exactly is reality…More importantly, what are we?

I know, everything is a phase or a trend, like Rubik’s Cube, MySpace and Boy Bands…Rubik’s Cube became Tetris, MySpace became Facebook and Boy Bands, well we can’t get rid of them (Thank you Marky Mark).  So if history is deemed to repeat itself with each generation, we are safe; but if technology is slowly skewing us in the wrong direction of moral humanity and we keep repeating the same mistakes…BOOM!  What then?

For centuries, territorialism and religion have been blamed for thousands of senseless deaths.

The media, let’s talk about the media.  They glamorize looks and money and provide millions of innocent viewers with a less than perfect image of themselves which leads to depression, dangerous health habits and for some, suicide.

Let’s look even deeper to the multi-billion dollar world of gaming…Oh yes, don’t go hiding your Play Station or X Box now. Let us take a moment to dissect

Here is a list of the top selling X Box and PlayStation games of all time:

Halo 2
Halo: Combat Evolved
Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell
Fable
Project Gotham Racing
Grand Theft Auto Double Pack
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
Counter-Strike
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
Need for Speed: Underground 2
Call of Duty 2: Big Red One

Correct me if I am wrong, but I see a theme that is present in many of these titles: Violence and death.

Gender, we cannot leave out the age old genetic dilemma that men and women are inherently different. Personality, emotions, passions and physical make up are all unique and separate qualities. There are exceptions, but for the near future, let us accept that for the remainder of mankind we will have to learn to deal with those differences.

Music, music music. It is the soundtrack of our lives and the power of words has the ability to translate to the power of perception. Are we influenced by lyrics in rap and death metal? Perhaps that is a factor as well.

“And the people bowed and prayed
To the neon god they made
And the sign flashed out its warning
In the words that it was forming
And the sign said, “The words of the prophets are written on the subway walls
And tenement halls”
And whispered in the sounds of silence”

– Written in 1964, this classic by Simon & Garfunkel spoke of a world today 47 years ago

The internet…The most powerful mastermind of covert activity. You can be anyone and anything you want on the internet. You can be an eighty-year old man who can transform to an eighteen year old prom queen. Or a janitor becoming a CEO. The magic to transform can take on a life of its own..Be careful, do you know who you are talking to.

I was watching the news last evening and the newscaster said “Stay tuned, this next story could very well restore your faith in humanity”. Did we lose faith in humanity at some point? That was a profound statement to an audience in the New York City area of potentially millions to assume they have lost the belief that there is good in the world. That got me thinking, am I an optimist or a pessimist? Has reality, technology, sensationalism, violence, civil unrest, death, greed, power, recession, poverty, disease and loneliness numbed my senses and restricted my ability to feel?

I hope not. There is so much good out there, everywhere we turn.
Each spring the flowers blossom and there are colors everywhere you turn.
Each generation, children are filled with imagination and wonder.
Dreamers continue to dream and achievers teach us that there are no limits.

As we celebrate Mother Earth today, remember it is not a single day to reflect on what is good, but a 24 hour reminder that we should always focus on each and every living thing that makes this ecosystem so wonderful.