Self-absorbed, self-centred, selfish yes! Self-aware and self-critical, no...

Alas we have become monsters, perhaps of some benign variety, but monsters nevertheless, willfully destroying our world in order to have a good time; the terrible thing is that we are bringing up our young to be far, far worse. This is everywhere we look around us, where people are putting their needs first and foremost to the detriment of those around them and, indeed, society. The old tenet that your freedom starts where your neighbour's ends is completely disregarded also, harming us all immeasurably.

Look around you and see all the individuals absorbed in playing with their personal devices (no, this does not imply anything, you've just got a dirty mind...) disregarding all else, expecting others to move out of their benighted way if required just so they can 'do their own thing' as and when they like.

Look around you and see all the individuals who cannot be bothered to go out of their course even in a small way to help protect our planet - cars left idling for no reason other than personal comfort, rubbish left wherever but not in a bin, recyclables just thrown away, rubbish placed in recycling bins when there is a rubbish bin next to it...

Look around you and see parents indulging and promoting their children - who often have no discernible special talents - as deserving of the best in the world 'because they want it', giving rise to the fallacy that all you have to do to be successful in anything is to want it badly enough.

Look around you and see the children resulting from the above paragraph go through life full of their sense of entitlement, arrogant, petulant, spoiled and unwilling to make the effort required to truly achieve at any level, be it flipping burgers and waiting on tables to creating a new computer system or becoming a professional singer/musician/actor/star.

Not everything is wrong, of course, not everyone is like that, but too many are. For our own good we need to take a close look at ourselves and do better.

The trouble is that 'professionals' tell us not to try to improve, that in order to be happy we must accept ourselves as we are and demand that others accept that too. They are the same 'professionals' who tell us that all who finish a race should be rewarded equally (no distinction for winning, for preparing well, for making more of an effort) to avoid hurt feelings, embarrassment, having to try harder. And being happy as individuals is now the holy grail of life, leaving little room for much else.

So why should we be self-aware and/or self-critical when we are told that it is unnecessary/redundant/harmful? Why not be self-absorbed and try to get everyone else to accept us the way we see ourselves? Why not be utterly selfish and let others worry about everything?

Work it out, guys - answers on a postcard, ok an email, please.