Why is consciousness a thing of the past????????

[_Easy_]

money money and a women is da roots of all problem!

[Greg]

i think that we all forget that it has been this way for many a thousand years. since the dawn of man there has been selfishness, greed, envy, hatred, and just plain evil in the hearts of many. its those who choose to step aside the rat race and who speak and live against the authorities who are the conscious ones. to be enlightened is not always the easy path to take, but it is the right path. the only difference between then and now is the speed of information that is passed around. it is very easy to brain wash people now days because of things like tv,radio,internet,cell phones,computers. these devises are the platform for spreading babylon's messages.
you want to end the way things are than might i suggest not letting your youth watch tv, dont buy them a cell phone, and definatley keep a watchful eye on them as they browse the internet. as a society we have given parental control to these devises hence why we are in this problem.

[picaraza]

Hmmm.

I don't think consciousness is a thing of the past at all. If you are speaking in reference to reggae, well maybe you have a point-- I don't know. I don't really listen to ragga at all.

If you are talking about "consciousness" in general. I have to **disagree** with you. I think that the youth today are very, very smart and aware and less materialistic than they were when I was young in the 1980s. (I am speaking specifically of the situation in California, of course). And I think that people of my generation are learning, belatedly.

Perhaps youth were more "conscious" in the sixties. Maybe even into the seventies (though I doubt it).

Every vice you can name- or at least those pointed out in this threat-- that we have today was around then. I think that Internet has a lot to do with that. The information age is upon us and people have greater access to information than ever. Fewer and fewer people get their information ("news") from corporate-owned media. People are looking elsewhere for the truth because they know they are being fed a pack of lies.

That is one of the reason I am feeling positive about future despite the current political landscape. Sure there are many, many people (young and old) that are completely lost. But the number of people who are seeking answers is growing. And thanks to the Internet, it is far easier to meet people from different countries and exchange ideas and observations.

To reiterate, I think that consciousness is very much a thing of the present and the future.

[Gee]

We can blame it on a lot of things, but it comes down to a lack of self-respect. I also think people need to be put in check every now and then. You know, remind them of how they are making an ass of themselves. I have seen a lot of youths/adults acting a fool crying out for attention/help. This is why I am heavily involed with youth activities and volunteer as much time as possible to mentor young people. Share life experiences and the mistakes we made along the way.

You can still be successful and set lofty goals, but the key is to not forget where you came from and those that helped you along the way.

You need to have people in your life setting positive examples and helping you along the way. Too many youths get mixed up with trouble and don't even see it coming!

And, it is not just the youth. Many grown-ups have forgotten where they came from and their roots as well!

I don't think it is so bad for young people to dream big, but it is important to teach them the tools to be successful and let them know that there is nothing wrong with failing as long as you keep trying and learn from it.

[Litelet]

Accusing the rest of non-consciousness is a good way to congrulate yourself for your own consciousnes. But is it a real proof of consciousness?

There is probably one and only doctrin that has survived to all the times: "its getting worst nowadays". But imo more important to how its like nowadays, is what *you* are doing now and how.

Consciousnes fashonable? So there would be some *Kings* of consciousness selling consciousness here and there to the sheeps... Mmmmh... They already smell fishy!

[leggo rocker]

I don't agree evil has been with us since the dawn of man. It depends on who's account of history you believe of course.

As for conciousness in youths nowadays. I don't know what it is like in California but here in England the mass of people are mad for materialism like their lives depended on it. The youths, of anything, seem generally to be headlong into this rush, even the so-called alternative cultures are wrapped up in it. Fashion, the worship of technology, selfishness; I see it all around everywhere.

Yesterday I served tea to a lady of 85 years in my cafe. We weren't actually open (today is the day!) but we allowed her in to shelter from the terrible weather and sat her down with a complimentary hot cup of tea. Her remark was that "kindness like this sticks out like a sore thumb as it is so rare nowadays".

She has been on this planet almost twice as long as I have so I respect her observations that such behaviour that was once so common and is now oh so rare.

But this doesn't mean that the world is still full of a whole lot of lovely people who are at least able to be selfless at times, have love in their hearts and are really trying to be upful and help one another.

Somewhere, in all of us, this love exists. It is just buried, concealed, covered by a thick layer of material dirt.

[geoff]

IMO

its all in the eye of the beholder what you see is what you get.i personally believe theres more of everything now -materialism,minimalist,love,hate,humbleness,ego,war,peace,death,life,disease,health,empty,spiritual.Except as usual the badness gets the headlines...


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[picaraza]

@Leggo,

I think we may have a different understanding of the idea of "consciousness" and what it is that may be a thing of the past.

I wrote about California because it is something I know. From my perspective there has been an increase in "consciousness" in recent years as opposed to the level of consciousness of my youth.

The reasons for this are manifold. I think that the Internet and greater access information have a lot to do with this. Our ability to gather and discuss (and argue) on this forum, for example, is unprecedented. Never before in the history of the world has it been so easy for people across the globe to gather and exchange ideas and observations. And this is a very good thing and has increased the level of consciousness (awareness). Information need not go through media filters--our thoughts are not edited to match the worldview of a ruling party or class.

Also, I think that our time provides us the opportunity to observe and better understand how Babylon/Big Brother operates. In my youth the Cold War was a "fact". "We" had always been in a "global fight for freedom and civilization against the forces of darkness and oppression" (so called). The end of the Cold War was a brief repast and now we are again involved in another eternal war; one that its proponents hope to push way into the future. Having experienced the inception of the current version of this "eternal war" I think that many people are much more acutely aware of what a great farce it is. In my youth the Cold War had been going on for years and I genuinely believed that the Soviet Union, West and East Germany, and the United States would be facts for the entirety of my life. I knew I was being lied to, but I was not witness to the creation of the facade and I could not conceive of a world outside the one that I shown at every opportunity.

In my opinion many of the things that others in this thread have point to as signs of an absence of consciousness are not new developments in the least. Greed. Selfishness. Cultivated ignorance. "The cult of personal happiness." These have been with us a very, very long time. Perhaps the degree of materialism is new in your neck of the woods, but here in California - ground zero-- this is nothing new.

Arguably, the Internet and the information age have facilitated these vices/sins, but at least a window to the outside world is available for those who are willing to look. Our ability to see the world without filters has increased greatly.

On the whole I think that consciousness has risen greatly in the past three decades(my adult life time). And I would argue (will argue) that we're much better off now than we've been for many decades.

I cannot speak for the experience of your 85 year old lady. I can understand how a 85 year old may see kindness as a thing of the past-- or state that she believes that kindness in today's world is rare, but I do not necessarily believe her. I am not calling her a liar. I am certain that it is her experience. But she was not an 85 year old in 1937. She was a child.

Is consciousness greater now or diminished in comparison to the consciousness of the world in the 1930s-- a period that Auden called "a low dishonest decade"?

I am by no means certain that we have backslid from that time-- when fascism was widely embraced by many nations, when colonialism was a fact of life that was still defended and championed, when racism and Jim Crow were official policy and lynchings regular events in the American South.

In the 1930s, millions toiled in Soviet labor camps, the Nazis began the implementation their Final Solution, Japan was in the grip of xenophobic Rightists and its armies massacred thousands in China (most infamously in the Rape of Nanking), the Chinese themselves were divided and at war with one another-- divided into two parties (the Nationalists and Communists) that were equally brutal and indiscriminate when it came to killing those who were not actively on their side ("you're with us or against us"), and most of the world (including India, Pakistan, and Africa) was under the yoke of one empire or another-- the sun never sets on the British Empire, etc.

Events do not occur in a vacuum. People lacking consciousness supported these actions, justified them, believed in them.

Apologies for the essay, I just watched Bertolucci's brilliant and powerful film adaption of *The Conformist*. The 1930s and the fascist mindset are very much on my mind at the moment.

[bullit]

My apologises for skimming a lot of whats been said, but i dont have much time tonight as im doing a gig tomorrow and wanted to at least say *something* on this topic.

I believe consciousness is alive, as clearly from this forum it shows that there is consciousness, though a lot of people, youth and otherwise are very obsessed with material things.

I am 22, and still regard myself as 'youth' though i dont know how much longer i can hold that one . I see many my age moving into positions where day in and day out they work for money and material, my girl for example tells me 'why cant we be normal and you get a job and work all day and have kids and things'.

What im saying is, to her "normal" is the seeking of material wealth, not spirital and harmony with the earth. To many of that generation, my generation; that is what they have been taught is the 'goal' of life.

Id argue that personal persuit of happyness, doesnt mean greed or materialism, because i dont believe happyness can be attained by greed or material. Unless your spiritually happy within yourself and the person you are, then all the items in the world wont make you happy.

I still dont think consciousness is dead, i try and be an example of that, as are all of you.

In regard to Leggo: people many years ago when that lady was a child were closer and communities were closer and i feel kindness to thy neighbour was probably a lot better then it is now. My neighbour personally hates me and makes every effort to show it no matter how nice i am.
So i can see why she feels that kindness is so unusual, because i wish that instead of people secluding themselves like they do now when on the streets that they would converse with people they didnt previously know; for we'd all be richer in knowledge, love, etc.

As usual ive rambled onto something else entirely. One question though, does materialism mean that your not conscious? -can you be conscious and have material wealth?

[picaraza]

As usual ive rambled onto something else entirely. One question though, does materialism mean that your not conscious? -can you be conscious and have material wealth?

"Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."

Jesus