Our Vicarious Way Of Life Blinds Us To Our Problems

 I remember past arguments about the state of American healthcare. It was said that proof that we had the best healthcare in the world was that many of the wealthiest people in the world would come to America to be treated for serious illnesses. Such an argument begged the question of whether most Americans could get the same level of healthcare that the richest people in the world were receiving  here.

And so we turn to the Super Bowl that was played this past Sunday. We must first start with the stadium. This year's Super Bowl was played in the LA Rams' brand new, state of the art stadium. It must be a wonder to behold to sit in that stadium. But look at all of the money, time,  and other resources were invested into a palace where, for the Super Bowl, the wealthiest could be entertained by players, many of whom were millionaires. And look at, for many of us, what our happiness was determined by? For the Super Bowl it was determined whether the team we supported or bet on won.

But while so many of our resources are being invested in such palaces where we play or watch games being played, who and what is being ignored? Aren't we ignoring the living hell that our prisons have been and still are? Aren't we also ignoring the homeless and those whose homes are rat infested and are without heat and are located in food deserts, or the families who live in those homes who cannot afford adequate healthcare or adequate food or live in dangerous neighborhoods or have overcrowded schools.

And while we insist on spending for the strongest military in the world, or cutting taxes for the wealthiest people and corporations our federal deficits and debt put our whole economy at risk by making it more risky for financial institutions to use the dollar as reserve currency. Do we realize how much the success of many of our businesses and, perhaps, our economic system, depends on unnecessary government spending?

There are other problems and examples I could point to here, but the basic point being made here is that what we pay most attention to and seek to gain significance from are distracting us from paying attention to our nation's real problems many of which can eventually destroy our way of life. In fact, with much of our way of life consisting of living for distractions and our happiness being determined by the successes of the celebrities we love the most, what needs most of our attention and resources: our nation's real problems, such as the suffering of those who are not as economically privileged as ourselves are greatly neglected. And so while we still live for those distractions such as seeking significance by associating with the most successful and wealthiest, we are like a person who discovered a suspicious lump but never took the time to have it checked by a doctor.