She cites some pretty ridiculous examples of funeral selfies and then explores how all-about-me-ism came to ascend to its prominent place in our society:
We live in a society in which children are taught vanity in school—of course, we call it self-esteem, but that is just a euphemism for vanity, one of the classic vices.
Her ruminations lead her to a consideration of how even Christianity has succumbed to the need to be "relevant" and thereby abnegate their role as transmitters of tradition and civilization:
Churches and synagogues afforded an informal education about our history. If you belonged to a traditional church, you probably learned who Charlemagne was, and you could identify the figures in Renaissance art. That’s no longer the case. Camille Paglia, an atheist art historian who nevertheless has an appreciation for the beauty engendered by “organized religion,” has taught students who can’t quite place Adam and Eve or Moses. “If you are an artist and don’t recognize the name of Moses,” Paglia told Emily Esfahani Smith, “then the West is dead. It’s over. It has committed suicide.”
Are we to celebrate this suicide? Too much of our culture, self-absorbed as they are, seem willing to disregard the civilization that has laid the groundwork for their all-too frivolous existence. The irony is that the first victims of culture vacuum sucking the soul from the Western world will be those who celebrate its demise.
By the way, I think I'd like to read her new book, When Did White Trash Become the New Normal: A Southern Lady Asks the Impertinent Question.
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