Self Actualization and the Navy

jord | 24/2/10thoughts

There is a recruiting ad for the Australian Navy that has been on air for quite a while now; Painting Navy life as non-stop excitement and fun

I stumbled across an interesting article by a Christian writer from Melbourne talking about how the way the Armed Forces are being marketed and perceived is an interesting indicator of the way marketers are starting to use this idea of Self Actualization and Improvement as a motivating factor.

Check out the article - From Duty to Self Actualization. It seems to me to just another way in which our world is becoming more self centred in the way we make decisions. There is no longer any overwhelming sense of duty or service in a lot of young people. It has been replaced with the responsibility to “Be All You Can Be” as the slightly older recruitment ads for the Australian Army used to say.

What do you think about this trend?

Comments

  1. cafedave | 2/3/10 | 10:32 pm

    It seems completely spot-on as a summary of what’s happening: every construct in society seems to have moved towards the individual at the expense of the family and/or the community.

    While still valued, people who “give back to the community” somehow are often marginalised, or at best - like Mother Theresa - thought to be living a life that’s somehow miles from reality.