Photo of Salman Rushdie by kwc licensed under Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial Share Alike 2.0 Generic License. We had some interesting discussions this week about Salman Rushdie's article "Reality TV: a death of talent and the death of morality".
I particularly like Rushdie's idea that our societies have become "an inverted ethical universe". In other words, empty values such as wealth and fame are now at the top of the hierarchy for many people, and more traditional and fulfilling values such as family and happiness are at the bottom. His phrase is very relevant to the book I'm reading at the moment, Affluenza by Oliver James. The author's thesis is that Selfish Capitalism infects societies with a virus called Affluenza (affluence + influenza). Individuals who chase money and success tend to catch this virus and to suffer deep emotional distress as a result.
I was quite surprised (and rather disturbed) to hear what students had to say when I asked: What is the most important thing in your life? In each class, at least one boy immediately shouted out, "MONEY." Well, I hope it wasn't entirely serious, but I wonder. And how can money be the main value when students don't even earn their own money yet? I guess to be more precise, such students would have to say "MY FAMILY'S MONEY." A little bit sad, don't you think? And since Turkey has traditionally been such a family-oriented society, doesn't that show that Affluenza has arrived on these shores as well?
