5 day forecast
Dumbed down
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There was a time when Americans crossed an inhospitable and downright hostile continent braving innumerable hazards. Now the people of Pittsburgh apparently all but need their hands held to cross the few yards of a Downtown street. Street crossing apparatuses are constantly proliferating and the technology advancing. Always something more and new.
We are now told how many seconds we have, and there are units that let out an ugly noise-polluting beep. Heaven forbid that people would actually have to be present and actually use their own mind and initiative. But then they might have to take the buds out of their ears. Of course somebody (like us) has to pay to purchase and run these things. And some company makes a bundle.
People are being more than dumbed down. They are being lifed down. The more that we are insulated from life's challenges, the more that we are insulated from life. And it is these challenges that spur growth and strength. Life is not a problem from which we need progressively more protection, but an adventure and a joy to be embraced.
Sadly, the small people in places of power and influence see it differently. Have we already become so small that the negotiating of city streets is a challenge beyond us? Or is this just the future into which we are being progressively herded?
J. FRANK JAD
Bellevue
First Published September 5, 2012 12:00 am
