{"id":28,"date":"2017-09-07T23:30:24","date_gmt":"2017-09-08T03:30:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jeannepengelly.com\/?p=28"},"modified":"2017-09-11T23:36:25","modified_gmt":"2017-09-12T03:36:25","slug":"is-progress-the-only-value","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jeannepengelly.com\/?p=28","title":{"rendered":"Is Progress the Only Value?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Originally written in 2006<\/em><\/p>\n

The first article I ever published was entitled Is Progress Now the Only Value<\/em>?\u00a0 It was printed in the Hamilton Spectator in 1986, following the first space shuttle tragedy.\u00a0 I wonder, 20 years later, if anything\u2019s changed.<\/p>\n

The dictionary defines progress as the advancement toward a higher or better stage<\/em>.\u00a0 It suggests that we have a goal, a purpose.\u00a0 Is the purpose to know more, to have more money, to reach further into space, to learn more about where we came from?\u00a0 Is theour purpose simply progress itself, at any cost.\u00a0 Perhaps the value we place on advancement has propelled the last half-century.<\/p>\n

In the fifties, shopping centres, a convenient way to keep ourselves stocked, were being born.\u00a0 So were convenience foods and a myriad of other comforts.\u00a0 McDonald\u2019s was born.\u00a0 It was a time of hope and optimism, we are told.\u00a0 Hope that the future would be brighter than the past. But somewhere along the way, we began to get very comfortable.\u00a0 Comfortable with our larger homes, our shorter work weeks, our leisure time. Space-saving and time-saving solutions were all the rage. But look now.\u00a0 We are now slaves to our cell phones, our plasma televisions, i-pods, Blackberries.\u00a0 Our vehicles are large and spacious, and even then we pull humungous trailers. Our computers are fast and adept.\u00a0 Occasionally even instant. Our kitchens are equipped with microwaves, and Minute Rice, and our bathrooms with jet-tubs to aid relaxation, and shampoo\/conditioners that reduce the time we have to spend in the shower.\u00a0 Our hospitals have scanners of all sorts, and medically, there are more options than before. We have more knowledge, clearly.\u00a0 But the increase in knowledge is hardly a firewall against so-called advances that end in disaster.\u00a0 Perhaps it should be, but it isn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

Take illicit drugs as an example. In the late 60s, 12-20 million Americans were users.\u00a0 By the end of the 70s, TIME magazine estimated that 42 million Americans were using marijuana, which, along with cocaine, had become a billion-dollar product for farmers, smugglers and dealers from Columbia, despite the knowledge that mind-altering drugs lead to tragic death.\u00a0 A parallel evolution was occurring.\u00a0 This society, so proud of its progress, was slowly being mired in the quicksand of convenience and comfort.\u00a0 Indeed it would soon be hard to tell the difference between convenience, and progress.<\/p>\n

The advancements in science led to moral decisions we were, and are, hardly equipped to make.\u00a0 They also led to new, synthetic drugs, some legal, others illegal.\u00a0 The new drugs are easier to take and quicker to work; some increase the quality of life for those with health issues; others combat their side effects.\u00a0 Still others, like Ecstasy and Crystal Meth have outcomes far more disastrous.<\/p>\n

We ask how people could sacrifice their lives for such spontaneous gratification, but we need only look at the rest of society for the answer.\u00a0 We are a society of spontaneous gratification.\u00a0 Microwaves, cell phones, high-speed internet, on-demand cable, fast food restaurants and drive-thrus, express service stations, and more.<\/p>\n

As long as progress is our only value, we will continue to lead increasingly frenzied lives.\u00a0 Some of us will opt out. If we\u2019re careful, cognisant of the outcomes, we\u2019ll meditate, or choose life coaching to help us slow down and regroup.\u00a0 We\u2019ll buy a hybrid vehicle to help the environment \u2013 or our wallets.\u00a0 We purchase a house by The Lake, or a dog and a cat, to calm ourselves. But some of us \u2013 even those of us who know better — will resort to drugs, legal or illegal, to \u201cget through life\u201d.\u00a0 We won\u2019t be thinking about the outcomes.\u00a0 We\u2019ll be thinking about the moment.\u00a0 Like when we go through a drive-thru, or buy our cigarettes, or have an affair.\u00a0 We won\u2019t be thinking what this might mean down the road, or how it could affect those around us; we\u2019ll be instantly gratified.<\/p>\n

We were well-trained for the choice, after all.\u00a0 Fifty years of progress for the sake of progress, where comfort and convenience rate higher on the moral scale than longevity and environmental consciousness.\u00a0 Where family values slide down the scale, and individualism blows off the top.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It all changed in our own backyards; we needn\u2019t look to politicians or \u2013 worse \u2013 the next generation \u2013 to fix it.\u00a0 It\u2019s our job.\u00a0 Yours and mine.<\/p>\n

So when we ask the question how could someone sacrifice her life for the instant gratification of drugs, we don\u2019t have to look back on our own choices and cringe, that indeed, we have done the same, be it with drugs, or any other form of instant gratification. Indeed, in the end, one wonders if the frenzy of the 21st<\/sup> century isn\u2019t what some of the young people, indeed even people our own age, are escaping.\u00a0 Escaping our own creation.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s high time to start recreating, folks.\u00a0 Comfort exists within us; it cannot be bought, manufactured, even stolen.\u00a0 And it won\u2019t feel like the comfort we\u2019re used to, because, of course, it will last. It\u2019s your choice to make, right this instant.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Originally written in 2006 The first article I ever published was entitled Is Progress Now the Only Value?\u00a0 It was printed in the Hamilton Spectator in 1986, following the first space shuttle tragedy.\u00a0 I wonder, 20 years later, if anything\u2019s changed. The dictionary defines progress as the advancement toward a higher or better stage.\u00a0 It […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[55],"tags":[26,22,24,25,27,19,20,23,28,21],"class_list":["post-28","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog","tag-1950s","tag-22","tag-advancement","tag-drug-crisis","tag-nasa","tag-progress","tag-science","tag-space-exploration","tag-space-shuttle","tag-space-shuttle-challenger"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jeannepengelly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jeannepengelly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jeannepengelly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jeannepengelly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jeannepengelly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=28"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jeannepengelly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jeannepengelly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=28"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jeannepengelly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=28"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jeannepengelly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=28"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}