Tom Wolfe is a great writer, with great insight into our
society. His ability to coin phrases and/or mangle our
current vernacular with incredible accurary is legendary.
His basic thesis that cultured humans strive for their
exaltation in their own "statussphere" is correct up to a
point. The striving will stop when people realize that the
statusphere is an illusion.This occurs when the "life"
these folks live is changed by positive entropic
effects (i.e. disease, physical degradation, and death).
Then the question of the meaning of existence and the future
of ones existing come into play. Saying that Jesus only
brought hope in this world was truly downplaying the
documents written about Christ. The documents about Christ
talk about his unearthly ways, and his domination of
death by his resurrection. The statussphere(if you will) to be obtained
is "living with the author of life" and not final
irreversible degradation.
The striving will stop when people realize that the
statusphere is an illusion.This occurs when the "life"
these folks live is changed by positive entropic
effects (i.e. disease, physical degradation, and death).
Positive entropic effects - that's a great way of putting it. It's true, people often don't get off the ego train until they are forced off by illness or loss of a loved one or some other major life event. And in modern times that awakening doesn't happen to many folks until at least middle age.