The new mutant concept of “tolerance” in contemporary society has as its linguistic sign the dumbing down caused by nihilism and insignificance. This is what the impressive spectacle of the opening of the Paris Olympic Games (2024) taught us. Their arts director, inspired by a penetrating surrealism, depicted history, society, religion, politics and all human events with a specific reference to interpretation of the current, present day. An “in progress world” that appeared with an incomprehensible and indeterminate face, made for “socially sensitive minority groups,” putting forward “tolerance,” that is, the acceptance of everything and the leveling of moderation, principles and values. He showed respect, in a novel way, almost exclusively to the French Revolution and to certain moments that honoured man over time.
The spectacle of this opening ceremony did not have as its theme the culture, the people and the great history of the French, while it ignored the structural values of the Olympic Games, their history and their birth as a religious event dedicated to the Great God, Zeus. Similarly, it also pilloried the new religion of Jesus the Great. It presented the Last Supper as a Bacchic table of representatives of minority groups, whose members demand not just the tolerance of the society, not just its recognition, but the unequivocal domination and imposition of their own way of life overall. And in this direction, these “socially, minority groups” even recruit State Presidents and have already flooded with their influence the television studios in Western societies, sometimes as directors and presenters and sometimes as “executives” of the management of the channels.
The intervention of the Catholic Church in this case was also deficient and lax, because, in general, Christianity, worldwide, is going through a great crisis. The percentage of professed atheists is approaching 39%, to which, if we add the followers of agnosticism, agnosiarchists and other doubters, those with a living religious feeling, are now, unfortunately for a structured society, a sad minority.
The lazy reaction of individuals and institutions, sensitised citizens, to the costly fiesta of the opening of the Games, which was left anarchically at the disposal of the responsible “artistic” directors and to the “acumen” of the state officials who signed the sponsorship funds for the implementation of the project, should not only give cause for concern, but should now become a social consciousness that the end of the great cycle of social development as we know it is looming.
Our society is experiencing rapid advancements in technology, unpredictable changes, and a strong desire for progress. However, these developments have resulted in the disregard for religious beliefs, the destruction of historical landmarks, and a diminishing sense of human dignity and trustworthiness. On one hand, there is a rise in radical ideologies influenced by Asian Islamic extremism, and on the other hand, there are minority groups promoting their own agenda under the guise of “tolerance.” These actions can be seen as intrusive and disrespectful to human rights. The recent opening ceremony of the Paris Olympic Games showcased some of these controversial elements, exploiting the moral and historical significance of the Games and the timeless values of ancient Greece.
Besides, they contribute to this social usurpation by members of social minorities who have “tolerance” only as a starting point, since their ideal is the transformation of human ontology, but also by all apathetic and non-participating citizens in civil society events. The vast majority of citizens remain apathetic and uninvolved and become mere witnesses of these societal changes, which essentially torpedo principles and values of a society that for thousands of years, despite any problems, has stood up to human atrocities and man’s tendency to greed and consumerism.
The global mentality formed as a result of technology and consumerism remains highly challenging, at least for the last forty years. This produced a mentality of nihilism, contradictory anarchism, social devaluation of institutions and values, in education and family principles.
Consumerism and the disorderly use of technology have led, in general, man to what the Mexican poet Octavio Paz considers “smug nihilism” or what Cornelius Kastoriadis declares as an “insignificance”. Internally, prosperity, consumerism and attitudes towards the achievements of modern society led to a redefinition of human behaviour, in the context of a more general conformism, which brought about the deactivation and inactivation of those citizens who could form a self-sustaining and self-reliant society.
The abundance of goods gave birth to dumbing down and gave rise to what Octavio Paz called “general passivity” and turned the constituted people into “masses without will and without destination.” Cornelius Kastoriadis would characterise this situation as “almost an attitude of dumbing down in consumer and television masturbation.” It is about the citizen who mutates into a consumer observer, into a private person, who fools according to Aristotle. Societies without learning, societies trained by technocrats but without education are societies without sensitive citizens, without participating citizens, societies with qualified individuals who will be the first to be levelled by the coming storm of robotics. The conscious citizen does not accept to face the future without sensitivity, as Sophocles teaches us (Sophocles, Antigone, v. 359).
But do we have conscious citizens? Tens of thousands of children are killed by the folly of the fanatical hordes in wars and “military operations” of territorial bulimia and religious fanaticism. Convicted of criminal acts and bankruptcies, immodest politicians emerge as future presidents of powerful countries. Missiles have become wedding confetti harvesting schools and football fields, drones and death balloons dominate the skies as diplomatic mechanisms of détente. The neighbouring President, having invading and occupying Cyprus for fifty years, now threatens to invade Israel, Libya, Azerbaijan and Somalia. The presidential candidate and former President argued that disabled people should be killed to save resources… To such absurdities, what is the reaction of our sensible citizens, sensitive public officials, statesmen (not showmen), intellectuals, spiritual leaders, men of arts and letters, poets and philosophers?
*Professor Anastasios M. Tamis taught at Universities in Australia and abroad, was the creator and founding director of the Dardalis Archives of the Hellenic Diaspora and is currently the President of the Australian Institute of Macedonian Studies (AIMS).
