Schramm 1Kristen SchrammDISC 1313, MWF 9-9:50Professor ArberyMarch 7, 2014The “New” Modern LoveHumans are constantly trying to find new, more efficient ways of doing things in every aspect of life, but what consequences has this revolutionary idea had on society as a whole? As depicted in the film, Berlin, Symphony of a Great City, as industry has picked up the pace, so has life. This idea of efficiency also turns the people of the workforce into replaceable, unimportant, “robots”. Now has this phenomenon spread to more personal aspects of a person’s life, such as love? The type of effects love has taken, just like the workforce, makes a relationship with someone for granted, and sometimes even for fun. People has become to be thought about as objects; after they become boring they are simply gotten rid of. If people have become to be thought of as objects, then what has become the idea of objects? It can be seen in the greed for money, that in our society what someone has, has become more important than whom they are. Love has also become to be thought of as a kind of system, that if it isn’t easy we move on. This is not what the nature of love is, it is supposed to be difficult, and unpredictable. The chain reaction then continues on to how a person views themselves, which is through what they have. When a society looks to what everyone else, then they become that type of “robot” they have been labeled by industry. One constantly worries about what society wants of them, and now what they want. Love, in this type of modern sense, has changed for the worse.Love has taken many hits from our new kind of society ideals, but the sense of conformity, or what is socially acceptable, may be one of the most tragic. A Defense of Rash Vows, written by G.K.Schramm 2Chesterson discusses this phenomenon, but in a different sense. He says that we take “vows” to society instead of to ourselves. He uses the example of marriage protesters who say that it is a violation of “free-love” (“vows”2). He says that the statement is a contradiction in every way because “it is the nature of love to bind itself”, so someone who is in love is never really free (“vows”2). The poem The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, by T.S. Eliot, again supports this idea that love is changing. He says “in the room woman come and go” insinuating this idea that women are dispensable, and there is no need to “vow” to just one(Eliot 2).This unwilling idea of not wanting to take a “vow” to someone, examples that industrial idea of there always being a new, and more efficient option; having a “backdoor” (“vows”2). As a consequence of today’s ideals, love has also come to be thought of as a kind of system. G.K. Chesterson’s, “On Certain Modern Writers and the Institution of the Family” he explains how love for family should, in a sense, be similar to romantic love—it should be hard work and unpredictable. When spending large amounts time with anyone, there will be disagreements. Chesterson says that “we wish life to be a system”, meaning that we want control over everything (“family”4). Love was never meant to be a kind of controlled emotion. Another similar ideal Chesterson brings up in this chapter is that, society has let us become unsociable beings by the idea of cities, but it is human nature to fall to the familiar. This makes it so we can just avoid the unpleasant situation of being around people who know us, and make it so we don’t have to take responsibility. He says “it is not fashionable to say much nowadays of the advantages of a small community”, but instead people move to bigger cities in order to be able to choose who they want to be around(“family”1). This has consequences in the fact that people don’t have to get along with anyone, they can just move away. The industrial idea of everyone being ableto be replaced has had a profound effect on modern love.Love should not be thought of as an industry, such as it is today. It should instead be a “leap of faith” and a burden. Love is meant to be a commitment, but the world today had made it so that no oneSchramm 3has to make any commitments, so people don’t think that they should in love either. The trickle down has even affected our idea of love, making it sound like being tied to someone is a bad thing. This modern idea of love has become the norm, but as industry slows down hopefully this idea will change