utilitarian blue

When in the distance there's nothing but family and fortune making, the world seems to wither up, the blinds are closed; but what else? To make a mark in history, become an exception, tip the evolutionary scale, walk with a sense of import and justification, in short, to struggle to become something of significance – what a laugh! Significance is irrelevant and opinion is inculcated by the media, or never rises above what the subconscious inherits from the family. Policy is in the hands of business, academia is controlled by sycophants, liberty is limited by the available funds. All that is left of culture is an expensive distraction from suffering, or, worse, a distraction from boredom. And most saddening of all, appreciation has become a function of selfishness, no longer an act of admiration or respect but simply one of want and consumption. To the ancient Greeks the purpose of life was happiness, but happiness is bandied around by so many hawkers that counterfeits are the rule.

And why? Because it all increases marginal utility?