The Paradox of Our Age

Recently I stumbled upon this passage by the Dalai Lama and was deeply moved by it. His Holiness really does seem to understand the emptiness so many experience nowadays in a culture driven by consumerism and the fantasies put forth by mass media...

The Paradox of Our Age

by The Dalai Lama

We have bigger houses but smaller families;
More conveniences, but less time;
We have more degrees, but less sense;
More knowledge, but less judgment;
More experts, but more problems;
More medicines, but less healthiness;
We've been all the way to the moon and back,
but have trouble crossing the street to meet the new neighbor.
We build more computers to hold more information to
produce more copies than ever but have less communication.
We have become long on quantity,
but short on quality.
These are times of fast foods but slow digestion;
Tall man but short character;
Steep profits but shallow relationships.
It's a time when there is much in the window,
but nothing in the room.