Misplaced Priorities in our Materialistic Society

My Thoughts on Misplaced Priorities in our Materialistic Society:

Despite the title of this post, I am very much a capitalist. I firmly believe that capitalism and seeking economic growth will make our society better off, as I wrote about in “The Magic Formula of Economic Success.” But, I do think that there are significant examples of misplaced priorities in our materialistic society. Perhaps the best example of that is what this meme says; society has heavily protected the institutions that hold money, but has forbidden protecting the institutions where our children are.

Gun-free zones don’t work. They attract killers by turning usually densely populated areas into soft-targets. Schools used to allow students and teachers to carry guns. And there were rarely, if ever, school shootings. But that all changed with the 1990 Gun Free School Zones bill, sponsored by Joe Biden.

After that bill was passed, our schools were turned into gun-free zones and thus sitting ducks. Now, students and teachers are unarmed and unable to defend themselves. As a result, they are all too frequently targeted by homicidal maniacs. Those mass shootings have shown that the 1990 Gun Free School Zones Bill was a failure and should be repealed. But politicians and liberal activists haven’t woken up to the need to defend our children from mass shooters through abolishing gun free zones.

Banks, on the other hand are well defended. Armed guards are inside, easy to use buttons can discretely call police and SWAT teams that will be there at a moment’s notice, and gun owners can carry (if they have a concealed carry permit) inside banks. That makes those areas well-defended and able to protect our money. I think that is an example, and perhaps a representation, of the misplaced priorities in our materialistic society. We’ll protect our money like that, but not our children.

bank security — The security that isn’t present for our schools

I don’t think that politicians and activists intentionally chose to protect their money but not their children. That misallocation of resources is evil and ridiculous, but I struggle to believe that it could have been intentional. That would be too evil, even for the far-left. However, it does show what is wrong with society in two ways.

What Societal Problems this Meme about Misplaced Priorities in our Materialistic Society Shows:

The first problem this meme shows is that important changes can take too long to be enacted. It was obvious long ago that gun free zones don’t work. They just attract criminals and turn schools into sitting targets, as I discuss in “Criminals and Gun Free Zones.”

Yet, because of partisan bickering and liberal hyperboles, nothing has happened. When Israeli schools were being attacked by Palestinian gunmen (yet another example of the violence of Islam, the “religion of peace”), Israeli politicians swiftly armed and trained teachers so that schools would no longer be soft targets.

And that was a great solution to the school-shooting problem; no additional personnel or security solutions were required and the shootings stopped. The US has still not figured out a solution. We need to, but can’t because of gridlock and partisan bickering. Gun control isn’t the solution; instead, increased defenses are, just like with banks. The fact that only banks have them shows the misplaced priorities in our materialistic society.

The second problem this meme shows is how the fact that we associate money and success with happiness shows the misplaced priorities in our materialistic society. That has led to parents ignoring and neglecting their children in the pursuit of money; if that doesn’t show the misplaced priorities in our materialistic society, then I don’t know what does.

wolf of wall street chasing money — Just watch the Wolf of Wall Street to see how many Americans chase money at the cost of everything else

They ignore what could actually make them happy while chasing illusory happiness. The problem of banks being guarded but schools being left defenseless shows the misplaced priorities of our materialistic society. We focus too much on money and too little on the family.

By: Gen Z Conservative