Lacking Focus

A trend in the past few decades has caught my attention. It is the transition of idolization from people such as scientists or change-makers who work for the betterment of society, to celebrities who exist purely as entertainers and money-makers. It frustrates me that a society once prized for its superior education and thinkers has slipped to the realm of laze and intrapersonality.

At the dawn of the Cold War, the US funded technical education like it had never before, and the result was an extremely intelligent and versatile workforce. If you asked a child in the fifties what they wanted to be when they grow up, they would respond “an astronaut” or “a scientist”. This led to economic prosperity and worldwide respect. At the waning years of the Cold War, though, funding for technical education was cut in favor of the new Drug War.

If you listen to any motivational educator today, they would tell you that as long as you believe in yourself, you can do anything you want. This is a major misconception. Doing what you want requires not only your faith in yourself, but other people need faith in you too. This is achieved by actually putting in the effort to earn your position in life. We have been conditioned to be emotionally isolated from the cares of others, instead of conditioned to realize that we must work for our place in life. There is a common misconception that every American deserves a house, that every American deserves a job, regardless of merit or effort.

As for me, I want to become a Computer Science major and write programs that, for example, simulate weather to enable governments to evacuate disaster zones earlier. That is tangible, life saving change. I find wonder in much more important things. I wonder why black holes are black. I wonder why matter has mass. My sister, on the other hand, wonders why her friends don’t like her new Myspace picture. Who is going to be desired in the workforce, someone who’s only marketable talent is putting grayscale filter on a bathroom mirror picture, or someone who turns computers inside out for fun?

The greatest folly of our youth today stems from their idolization of celebrities. For example, the Kardashians are only famous because their father was a defense attorney for O.J. Simpson. That’s right, the public ADORES people who are responsible for letting a man guilty of murder walk free. America idolizes the rich and the famous, giving them the false hopes of riches and grandeur that is only attainable by the elite, which brings us back to people believing they deserve better than the mean income of the nation, which is impossible. It is time some real heroes stepped up and showed our youth how to live their lives.