It's All Whirlpool's Fault!

Note: I've got to remember to actually hit the 'Post' button when I'm done uploading a post. I didn't realize I hadn't until I looked at the blog a few minutes ago and realized last night's post wasn't there.

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I read Megan Fox’s PJM article about the wrong turn made by humanity with great interest. I think we all can agree that something has gone wrong and humanity is heading down the wrong path. There are a number of causes posited for this wrong turn. The cause put forth by Ms. Fox?

Washing machines.

We like to think we’re very advanced, but is that true? Has innovation brought us the freedom it promised? Are human beings the happiest we’ve ever been? Considering that more than 37 million Americans are on antidepressants, I doubt it. Teen suicide rates are skyrocketing. Drug use, violence, despair, isolation, and loneliness are completely off the charts. No one is okay.

But life has never been easier for human beings. Everything can be accomplished with the touch of a button. Everything is instant and automatic. We should have more free time than ever, be happier, and be more content than ever before. Look around. Is that what you observe? All I see are sick, miserable people who don’t know what gender they are.

Mr. Fox and I are watching 1923, the Yellowstone spinoff starring Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren (a great show). In the episode we watched last night, the Dutton family, ranchers who work from sunup to sundown caring for animals, fighting rustlers, and trying to survive the harsh Montana conditions, take a trip into town and see a sidewalk salesman with the electric company showcasing a new invention: the electric washing machine.

Under a sign that says “housecleaning made easy” stands a bright and shiny washing machine that catches the ladies’ eyes. “What is that?” asks one of the young women in the group. “That’s a washing machine,” says the salesman, eager to make a sale. After informing the group that it’s for washing clothes, the women exclaim, “Can you imagine?”

Ms. Fox uses this tale to illustrate the beginning of where we went astray. As you continue to read her narrative you come to realize that it is a proper logical path showing the train of events that have brought us to this place. As Megan writes, “[I]t has been women throughout our history who are at the root of all foolishness. So many cultural ills we face are the direct result of women gone wild and the men who didn’t stop them.”

Is she serious about her analysis? Is it more tongue-in-cheek, or is she serious?

This is just my opinion, but I think it’s a bit of both. Too much leisure time can lead to people getting themselves into trouble, be it legal, social, or otherwise. As the Bible-inspired saying goes, “Idle hands are the Devil’s workshop.” There’s a lot more free time than there used to be and people need to fill that free time with something. It appears a lot of that ‘something’ is coming up with new ways to damage our societies.

Do I agree with all of Ms. Fox’s conclusions? No, but I agree with enough of them to think she might be on to something. It’s up to you to make up your own mind.

Read The Whole Thing.

A suggestion: You’ll find comments from a number of readers have equally interesting takes on what has set us on this path to self-destruction.