The Greener Grass Syndrome

A while back, my high school hosted Law Day. Law Day is a day where seniors spend 3 hours rotating between various guest speakers whose occupations deal with the law in some way.

My favorite speaker was a professor at George Mason University by the name of Hawke. He specialized in the foundations of America especially the constitution and its underpinnings.

It was all very enthralling. He talked about the relationship between political culture and our rights—how when rights are eroded it is difficult to maintain them because it changes the political culture on which rights are protected.

All that is very interesting to me, but what struck me as most interesting about his presentation was a comment he made about the change communication has had on economics dispersion. He said that the huge difference between now and a century ago is not the fact that there are haves and have-nots—they have always been. It was rather the fact that now, because of media prevalence, the have-nots see exactly what the haves have. It is shoved in front of their face—marketed to them in such a way that what becomes important are not characteristics integral to the person, but instead the products presented for consumption.

It’s the greener grass syndrome.