dec·a·dence
- A process, condition, or period of deterioration or decline, as in morals or art; decay. (note: root of the word decadence is decay)
In the past year of my life I’ve been struggling over my love for this country and my resentment for its decadence; specifically the decadence of Americans. Even I have been guilty and try to keep my decadence in check.
Before I begin my diatribe, let me ask you a question. Do you think you are decadent? Do you think wanting the nicest dish set or a taller Christmas tree is decadent? Do you think wanting to go skiing for a weekend trip or heading to the beach to do essentially nothing is decadent? Or is the lifestyle of someone that has more money than they can think to do with it make them decadent? Let’s face it; to someone in just about any other country, we Americans are decadent. And this article …this reflection on our culture is not meant to make us hate ourselves, it is meant to have you just appreciate what you have. (To the word, the extra things we have). If we as Americans can do that, it wouldn’t matter what the rest of the world thought. We would be righteous in our lives.
There is a saying in business, “Sometimes you have to make unpopular decisions.” Which means doing the right thing is not always popular. If we Americans only appreciated the small and large things we have it would have an effect on what the world thinks of us. And if it did not, then finally we could tell them to stick-it for the reason of our absence in decadence. I know appreciating things is not a panacea, yet it goes a long way because “moral values” is a key component to decadence; value and appreciation are almost synonymous.
The word decadent is important to me. A number of years ago I was re-introduced to it by a song of all things. A b-side song by the Pet Shop Boys called decadence. Since I listen to words as much as I do music, I dissected that song. It had personal meaning at the time because of a friend that was living a lifestyle that was void of values. They were wasting every dime on a decadent “habit”. You can guess what it was. I parted ways with that person permanently. By the way the song was based on the secondary meaning of decadence; the characteristic of a quest for new sensations no matter the cost to your character.
OK… so what is my slant on our countries decadence? Well, having this word ingrained in my psyche, something terrible happened one day. That day was September 11, 2001.
Like so many Americans, I spent days trying to understand why. I remember writing a letter to thousands of my customers sharing my sentiments of the sadness. Some of our customers were from other countries and replied with resentment over what they felt was a naive perspective.
In the end I saw a major reason for the attack on our country …Our decadence. Yes it is true that the macho culture of the Middle Eastern man combined with Muslim faith translates into a will to convert or kill the rest of the world. However what makes us an easy target for that will is our decadence.
I don’t want to write about September 11th, however that event has kept the concept of decadence in the forefront of my mind. As I live, I don’t want to take for granted the life I live. I enjoy sports, games, clothing, food and friendship at a level many people wish they had. Of course I’m a far cry from the silver spoon decadence of someone like Paris Hilton. I’m sure if she spent twenty minutes with me I’d floor her with substance, but again I’m chasing a rabbit in this diatribe. ;)
Does everyone remember the last general election? We were divided hard. Yet one thing always drove me to my decision of who to vote for. It was something I put a lot of value on, substance. Was the person I wanted in office going to promote more of the decadent behavior that despite September 11th, was still running rampant in our country.
With lack of values comes decadence, because without a respect for things that have come to you, the life you lead is useless and decadent. To that end we should be ashamed. I personally don’t want to continue to eat these programs I’m force fed like “The Simple Life” where Paris Hilton and Nicole Ritchie demonstrate to the rest of the world why our country is useless. The whole load of reality TV shows should be rejected by us on a whole, but instead we Americans give the world all the reason there is to resent us.
I’m not bashing America. I am a patriot. I want to believe in the good in man. I don’t want to believe our leaders make all their decisions for the mighty dollar. Call me naïve, sometimes you must have some faith.
America back in the 70’s was a joke to the world. We were dumb ass tourist in shorts and sneakers assuming our culture followed us around the globe.
We’ve far eclipsed that foolish tag now. The world sees us for what we are, decadent. We eat too much, we find ways to waste money, we buy in bulk even if we don’t need it. We keep up with the Jones, and we worship actors for what reason I’m trying to understand.
I really don’t mind people having nice things. I just would like to think most of us can say no to excess, and appreciate the things we have. If we haven’t earned a hard day’s pay then at least appreciate it.
The past year has been more and more decadent, as if we never learned anything three years ago. Healing the wound of September 11th 2001 was not fixing out economy. It was fixing our souls. It was fixing out attitudes. On that note, we didn’t learn a damn thing. Of that I’m certain. Sure some of learned. But on a whole, I don’t see it.
So who is going to do something about it? Perhaps it is you. If you sent a friend here to read this article and everyone acted on it sending a friend. Perhaps this message would get out. Perhaps we’d find ourselves all driving down the road one day letting the guy in front of us in our lane knowing we were not selfish, decadent Americans. I’d like to think all those little American flag stickers meant, “I’ve had an attitude adjustment, I appreciate this country.” Instead they meant, “I was here when we got bombed.”
So who is going to start the reversal of this decadent society? Is it you?
