What Have We Become?
We have taller buildings, but shorter
tempers; wider freeways, but narrower viewpoints;
we spend more, but have less;
we buy more, but enjoy it less.
We have bigger houses and smaller
families;
more conveniences, but less time;
we have more degrees, but less sense;
more knowledge, but less judgment;
more experts, but more problems;
more medicine, but less wellness.
We drink too much,
smoke too much,
spend too recklessly,
laugh too little,
drive too fast,
get too angry too quickly,
stay up too late,
get up too tired,
read too seldom,
watch TV too much,
and pray too seldom.
We have multiplied our possessions,
but reduced our values.
We talk too much, love too seldom
and lie too often.
We've learned how to make a living,
but not a life;
we've added years to life, not life
to years.
We've been all the way to the moon
and back,
but have trouble crossing the street
to meet the new neighbor.
We've conquered outer space, but
not inner space;
we've done larger things, but not
better things;
we've cleaned up the air, but polluted
the soul;
we've split the atom, but not our
prejudice;
we write more, but learn less;
plan more, but accomplish less.
We've learned to rush, but not to
wait;
we have higher incomes; but lower
morals;
more food but less appeasement;
We build more computers to hold
more information,
to produce more copies than ever,
but have less communication;
we've become long on quantity, but
short on quality.
These are the times of fast foods
and slow digestion;
tall men, and short character;
steep profits, and shallow relationships.
These are the times of world peace,
but domestic warfare;
more leisure and less fun;
more kinds of food, but less nutrition.
These are days of two incomes, but
more divorce;
of fancier houses, but broken homes.
These are days of quick trips,
disposable diapers,
throwaway morality,
one-night stands,
overweight bodies,
and pills that do everything from
cheer,
to quiet,
to kill.
It is a time when there is much in
the show window
and nothing in the stockroom. |