… Already long ago, from when we sold our vote to no man, the People have abdicated our duties; for the People who once upon a time handed out military command, high civil office, legions — everything, now restrains itself and anxiously hopes for just two things: bread and circuses. (Juvenal)
Juvenal wrote these words some nineteen centuries ago. He was addressing the social changes that he perceived as a decline in the Roman culture of his age. To his thinking, interest in the welfare of the state had been exchanged for the more base endeavours. The thinking of the political powers of his day was that if they could provide sufficient food and entertainment the people would be indifferent to who was in power and what they were doing.
Sometimes I wonder if much has changed. It seems to me that dominant needs of our society revolve around our stomachs and our eyes. Instead of the circus with its chariot races and gladiatorial battles we have our movie theatres and sporting events (UFC?). We have our flat-screen televisions, and our laptop computers, our blackberries, iPhones and iPods. I'm not suggesting that any of these things are intrinsically wrong, but I do think we have reason to pause when our biggest concern becomes where we are going out for dinner or when the latest Apple gadget is coming out (iPad anyone?).
I'm not going to turn this into one of those angry posts where the author rages against the evil state of his/her society. I'm not going to do this mainly due to the fact that I don't think that our age or society is particularly evil (and if I did, I would have better reasons to justify this conclusion). Yes, we live in an age of entertainment and amusement; this frustrates me. Partly, it frustrates me because I feel the pull. I feel the pull of the temporal, the vain, the empty; all of this is a pull away from the important things in life, those which are substantive and eternal. I know that my central desire in life is to learn, grow, live, and love. I know that these things, though not intrinsically destructive (not normally), draw me away from that desire.
I think this could easily turn into one of those 'angry posts', and I could easily turn into one of those people who is angry at what I see in our society, if it weren't for the high esteem that I have for humanity. Although we are easily distracted, misled, or worse, I know that we also have unfathomable potential for good and constructive endeavours, for great learning and loving. I know that God is unceasingly at work among his creation and his people. Because I have hope, I am not angry or bitter.
Still.. bread and games do distract us from what is important. Perhaps that will never change.
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