Culture of Death
by Michael Thompson
Issue 103 - March 12, 2008
 In "What Kind of U.S. Culture", S.T. Karnick writes: "We certainly
know what is wrong with our contemporary culture: the ever-greater
promotion of narcissism, antinomianism, questioning of all conventions
and authority, identity politics, and the devaluation of all values,
as noted earlier. And all these things that seem so liberating
actually tend to enslave people to their baser appetites."
This comment seemed apt amidst Valentine's Day news reports of another
school shooting followed by newscasters' detailed accounts of the
grisly murder of a New York City psychiatrist by a man with a meat
cleaver.
As Kurtz said before his death in Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness
and later in Apocalypse Now: "`The horror! The horror!'" How desensitized will our culture be in 20 years time? Will people
believe evil really exists?
It's easy to fall into the gutter while searching the most popular
(and coarsening) videos on You Tube. You Tube director, Athenewins
(who ranks "#64 -- Most Subscribed (All Time) Directors"), not only
features his latest video of Tania posing in lingerie, but directs his
audience to a second page where Tania reveals: "I will kill myself in
90 days. This is my online diary of my final days." In the spirit of
democracy, Athenewins permits his 16,000 plus You Tube subscribers to
suggest what lingerie outfit Tania should wear on the day she kills
herself. "Don't wear anything," argues one 31-year-old fan from the
United States.
Tania acknowledges but accepts no blame for other individuals who
might have launched copycat sites. Instead she contends: "I have
gotten mails from angry parents about their children visiting my blog;
and as I mentioned before, I honestly do not care. I won't be around
anymore to see the damage I caused anyway, so as far as I'm concerned
it won't mean anything." She adds that she might decide to set her
little sister up to discover the suicide first: "She may be 10 but
she's tough as they come)."
The warnings of Pope John Paul II about the culture of death ring
increasingly true today.
Michael Thompson, Arlington, VA
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