what matters is what we see, not what is

The image. The video clip. The soundbite. We have reduced our world to a digital shadow of its' formal self, and what's worse, we have elevated the meaningless to the paramount--were but Nero alive he would laugh and find our little circus to be but the democratization of Rome--we are all free to be little Nero's in our own little world, masters of our moment and fixated on its' maintenance. Nothing matters nearly as much as the equilibrium, the status quo, the illusion that nothing changes. We plant lawn grass for houses on the beach for crying out loud! We build communities right on the water and wonder why hurricanes and tropical storms cause so much damage. We manufacture items to last a few years, cell phones for example, and while I understand that we're undergoing a rapid increase in the rate of technological development, items should be huilt to last. My sister's 1990 Volvo 240 has for instance 250,000 miles on it and it will keep running as long as someone maintains it. But, to look at it, it isn't anything to look at--the reality is though that car is fantastically well built.