I think we have lost the concept of sacrifice, and people are less happy as a result. When we are required to do something inconvenient we no longer have any consolation. We just feel aggrieved at our seeming loss. There is no pride in taking second place, putting the needs of others before our own.We are searching for happiness through selfishness but it is not working. We have never had so much depression, obesity, marriage breakdown as today. There is a shortage of helpers for children's sport, childcare and care of the elderly and disabled, while we have never been so individually wealthy in terms of possessions.
A society has core beliefs about itself, myths often related to its foundation by tough pioneers or warlike invaders. The soft, obese and self-indulgent modern masses imagine themselves to be empowered by the essence of these rugged and brave heroes, usually weathered by their outdoor efforts. And yet we seem to huddle together in ever larger urban centres, accumulating possessions and looking for ever more pleasant personal experiences which still fail to satisfy. There have been some successes - a new school curriculum has created an ecologically aware younger generation, while racial and cultural tolerance is part of the new politeness - but it takes much time and effort to change social behaviour.
Sir Richard Doll first reported that cigarette smoking caused lung cancer in 1950, confirmed by a much larger study published in 1954. It was later shown to cause heart disease and many other diseases but it is only in quite recent years that rates of smoking have reduced significantly. Society is slow to change even when the need is obvious. We are currently confronting obesity with the same slow initial progress. Our whole society is like a single individual who has given up smoking and is then overeating to replace the craving, even though most of the obese do not smoke at all.However, as a group, we had something pleasant to punctuate our day which we lost. We replaced it with something else that was pleasant but that has also proven to be unhealthy. Perhaps this time we could replace the unhealthy behaviour with a different kind of satisfaction, like the ex-smoker who has lost weight and now gets pleasure from regular exercise. Perhaps exercise itself could be part of a new response, certainly exercise for the young though this can cause social divisions if overly competitive and ultimately alienate those who might benefit.
If we are not vigilant there will be another world-wide replacement for food indulgence which is just as bad as smoking. Perhaps it is time to manipulate society again to create opportunities for participation in an increasing number of useful projects that are easy to enter and allow flexible hours of involvement - cross-cultural, across religion, age and sex: something to offer a sense of satisfaction to those who take part. Religion has traditionally provided such a structure but has been shown to have problems with intolerance, fanaticism and social conflict. However religion has proven to be the most capable vehicle for rapid social change as the mass conversions of Christian and Islamic history demonstrate, not always to the immediate benefit of the converted. Somehow, we need to take the best parts of religion, the community spirit and altruism, the ability to provide deep personal fulfillment, and insert them into our lives, not to change our political system, not to give power to the ambitious, but as a form of mass conversion to the concept of gaining pleasure by putting others first, by giving ourselves a massive social heart transplant.
Now who will volunteer to start this thing?
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