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WHY
the Passion for
Pleasure?
by
Jetf Zhorne
Millions indulge in entertainment as a way of escape. Here is a better pursu it!
N
EARLY
everyone enjoys
being ente rt a ined. Yet
few realize why enter–
tainment and pleasure do not
provide the hoped-for escape
from personal burdens or
international problems.
T o be sure, there's plenty to
escape from! World leaders tiptoe
for fear of making the waves that
could climax in nuclear disaster.
Mounting cnvironmental and
social problcms threaten life.
Financia! worries prove awfully
frustrating.
So people turn to pleasure, excite–
ment, illicit and licit drugs- includ–
ing alcohol- illicit sex and new
religions a ll for temporary
relief. None, however , can offer
true, lasting solutions.
But therc is hope! A way
that leads to pcace of mind
here and now, as well as ínto
the future.
Era of Bliss?
We have reached an unparal–
leled point in technological
advancement. Sorne insist that
technology will usher in a
scientiñc world, provid–
ing everyone with happi–
ness, ease and security.
A prediction by
U.S.
News
&
World Report
forecasts that in 50 years
"people will live toa healthy
old age of 100 or more, as super–
drugs cure discases such as cancer
and senility. Genetic techniques
will expand food production and
January
1984
curb pollution. Space colonies will
orbit the earth, and the moon wi ll be
mined for its wealth.... "
The outlook endeavors to calm
fears of famine and disease and
focuses on "enor–
mous amou nts of
data and entertain–
ment."
In a book titled
The Coming Boom,
the founder of
a major U.S. think tank- the late
Herman Kahn- has written how
within the next two decades tech–
nology will make "more and more
aspects of our prívate lives a
breeze." He envisions the Free
World as able to solve any antici–
pated problems concerning pollu–
tion or resources.
But, we ask what of the millions
of earth's inhabitants
now
sunk in
abject deprivation? H ave politi–
cians and economists reached
that point where they can pre–
vent joblessness and the col–
lapse of the debt market?
What of the institutions of
marriage and family? Will
our neighborhoods be made
safe from crime and violence
by sorne means that has
escaped our thinking till
now? And do we think
nations proliferating nu–
clear stockpiles to pro–
tect themselves from
other nations- just in
case- will suddenly
change their policies?
Does it sound like a
man-made
u tapia is
around the corner? The fact
is this society governed by
humans cannot survive anoth-
er 50 years! Yet millions pre–
tend these appalling evils are
not real and that somehow they
will just go away.
A New
Societ y Coming
Even more than world-scale prob–
Jems, people seek to escape their
daily pressures. What with tense
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