#624 Distractions for "the Great Unwashed" - isn't there More to Life?

     "The great unwashed", a disparaging term referring to the common, lower classes, was coined in 1830 by novelist and playwright Edward Bulwer-Lytton.
     Regardless of socio-economic, educational, cultural, ethnic or religious background, people self-select into two distinct "classes" or groups:
          • the majority, who sleep-walk through life on autopilot,
and
          • a small minority, who are actively engaged, do their best to evolve as individuals, and try their best to help the rest of humanity do the same.

     Popular culture is one of constant mind-numbing distraction, keeping the majority in the trance of "ordinary unhappiness" - shop till you drop, keep busy, eat fast food, mindless fun, etc etc. Group-hypnosis, in general, has negative connotations: mob violence at soccer games; people trampled to death entering stores to buy sale items; entire nations obeying the whims of sociopaths like Lenin, Hitler, Pol Pot etc etc etc.

     Yet even highly-educated people become visibly uncomfortable at the mere mention of "wisdom" - it's way past their comfort zone. Knowledge and practice of wisdom is stunningly low. The few who are intentionally awake and engaged, regardless of their individual wisdom tradition, must join forces, if they are to help wake-up, help evolve, help civilize - help rescue from self-destruction - the sleep-walking masses.
     Each individual's meaningful personal life-long evolution of consciousness - "hero's journey" - must replace the pandemic spirituo-degenerative diseases of distraction, apathy and cynicism.

allanD700   www.dpreview.com