People today prioritize and strive for
recognition over all else.
The days of
actually earning recognition through accomplishment have
been overtaken by a world whereby accolade is easier in a self-developed media environment and subsequently there has grown a culture of reward for nothing else
other than doing.
Reality TV is the
obvious outcome as people who have no significant skill or talent and certainly
have not achieved anything are watched and on occasion celebrated for
doing absolutely nothing. This phenomenon extends from people
going about their daily jobs like building motorcycles or catching fish to the
full blown cult of celebrity whereby people who are otherwise normal gain a following for merely being followed by cameras (the Kardashian's for
example).
Our society has created
this from birth as we no longer embrace a spirit of accomplishment to
gain recognition nor do we rely on competition to distinguish those
who deserve accolades. Everyone today, who in the past would have been
considered average receives acknowledgement. At a recent university
graduation, every graduating member of the class received
Honours or Distinction status. What is the point?
In sports, there
is a Para-Olympic program that permits those
with disabilities to perform on a world stage
though quite often their achievements are microscopic when
compared to the world’s best. In fairness though, these folks work very hard to get where they are. Even in team sports overall, a spirit of
inclusion and equality of playing time quite often is paramount when
compared to winning and losing so why even refer to it as sport? Under
these conditions it has become merely exercise.
YouTube has given every single person in the world the opportunity to be acknowledged for doing nothing more than holding a camera. Sadly, the elements of YouTube that attracts the most attention are cat videos, people doing dumb things and Justin Bieber. None of which adds anything to a broader society beyond a few brief seconds of distraction.
On an extremely more
negative note, recognition has also become more important for the
truly dysfunctional element of society. These individuals now
feel justified in undertaking quite spectacular atrocities so that they
receive some type of acknowledgement as they know that they cannot be
acknowledged within modern societal norms.
What needs to
happen is that achievement and accolades have to become more attainable without
the media being present and/or for merely fulfilling the mundane part of existence.
People who deliver results and rise above difficult circumstances
certainly warrant more from society than they currently receive. People who contribute greatly to their local
community deserve more pay. People who
rise above the norm deserve more acknowledgements for their contributions. Those who truly have unique skills or achieve
major accomplishments in athletics, business, entertainment, beauty can still
attain disproportionate amounts of success due to their personal
accomplishments.
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