Monday, May 11, 2009

HOW HIGH?

How high do we want go and how high can we go? The skeptic in me is back and I'm questioning the rationale behind the race to build the tallest building in the world. What are we trying to prove? And to whom? Are we trying to challenge the heavens? While I never really believe in the story of the Tower of Babel, I find this obsession to build the tallest building really scary. I am not against the building of any tall structure if the purpose can be justified and the availability of land is an issue but this? This is insane, really really insane. I don't understand the obsession some people have when it comes to height. Maybe they just need to go higher in order to feel the 'high' (well, go and indulge yourself in some designer drugs that can take you to the clouds and beyond). The message we are getting is all wrong. Indirectly, unconsciously and subconsciously, we have become victims of a persistent and yet subliminal message. Bigger, faster, stronger et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. On the outside, we might be shouting for world unity but deep down inside, we are competing to prove racial superiority or supremacy. Efforts to bring all of us together will be in vain when nations keep competing against each other in order to outdo each other. I wonder what they will think of next. The tallest building on the highest mountain, perhaps? During the mean time, I'm going to keep my feet on 'terra firma' since I am suffering from a mild case of acrophobia.