On Becoming an Enlightened Man in the 21st Century
This is why the world needs us to wake up.
By Tod Evans
In 1969 the progressive rock band, King Crimson, released a song called, “21st Century Schizoid Man.” It was inspired by the turbulence of incensed youth, rebelling against their parent’s materialistic values, the horror of the Vietnam war, and the unjust inequalities rampant in the world at that time. The song was a scream of outrage.
As we came into the ’70s, that outrage seemed to settle down. The war came to a close and those angry youths grew into adults, taking on the responsibilities of raising their own children.
Now, we are well into the 21st century and I find myself thinking about that King Crimson song again. The mental health of our citizenry is certainly questionable. About one in six Americans are taking some type of psychiatric medication, and most of that on a long-term basis, as if they don’t see any hope for future betterment.
We’ve moved firmly into a time of mind-numbing, pharmacologic intervention, and mass distraction. We pay more attention to senseless entertainments than to the chronic tragedies of our world that could be healed, if we only had the will.
