So
then we all ask: How did we, the apathetic generation, get from there to here?
In
the Classical Period of Greece, the great thinkers, Aristotle, Plato, and
Socrates, all sought to question, to answer, and to reach higher levels of the
mind. However, as time progressed, humans learned that perfection is not as
easily achieved as the sculpture of David or the Golden Ratio of the Parthenon.
Humans learned that the world is cruel, war is bound to happen, industrialization
is ugly, nuclear weapons destroy cities, and that most importantly the majority
just don’t care.
During
the postmodern era, the ugly truths of war and morality were revealed as people
drifted away from a universal jurisdiction and boundary of responsibilities. Relativity was on the tips of everyone’s
tongues. The moral code was “you do your thing and I’ll do mine” and the period
was “proudly distinguished by the absence of ‘rigid’ opinions and
moral values”(Kimball). Even one’s identity was a matter of relativity. You
were no longer just a male or female—you embraced both gender and sexuality.
You were no longer Irish or Polish—you recognized your blood, surroundings, and
allegiance. Every aspect of “you” had “a possible place in the sun or in the
shade” (Maalouf, 15).
It's
the Dictatorship of Relativism (Kimball).
As
Einstein’s theory of relativity emerged, people questioned their social spheres
and as the postmodern generation sank further into the dangerous sphere of existentialism
vs. nihilism, a general aura of apathy emerged as the moral code transgressed
to “since there is no right answer, and
no universal theme, why look for it? Who cares?”
This
is the generation of those who slaved across the finish line in the race to nowhere. This is the generation
of those useless high SAT scores and polished resumes.
