WHERE DID ALL THE ADULTS GO?
I suppose we have all known that old crotchety guy that is always complaining and wishing for the "way it use to be". You wanted to say, "get over it old dude, it's a new world", and you would be right. The world is constantly changing, and things will never be quite the same. Yet, now that I am that old dude I can see some validity in his grieving for the past. The clock cannot be literally turned back, and we do not want to stifle progress, yet it seems that each generation loses a bit of the essence of humanitarianism.
Must we lose that core of humanity? I don't know, but it is regretful that we seem to lose a portion with each generation. Oh, of course we gain something with each changing of the guard. Who could give up the advances and conveniences that have been gained. Who could return to the time that you had to wait a week for news to reach you, or the need for information sent you to the library or the encyclopedia - that now useless dinosaur that used to be the source of all knowledge. I couldn't even publish this little personal diatribe without computers and the internet.
Information, however, may just be too readily available. Is it really beneficial for us all to witness first hand, and in real time, school shootings, bombings, wars, and the daily movements of celebrities? The world is moving at a too-rapid clip, it seems. We have little time to absorb and digest events before we have moved on to another more exciting and tragic experience. We seem to be spiraling forever upward to more and more extreme experiences, and the media continually appeals to our more base desires to attract us. I wonder where it will end. There seems to be too little time to have a reasoned reaction to what we learn. Our boredom threshold has been lowered drastically so that we must always be entertained and occupied, lest we actually think, reason, and feel natural emotions. We now must learn to multitask and be constantly occupied. Even approaching 70 years of age I now find myself needing to consult another handy electronic device if there is a lull in the TV program I am watching.
So, were the old days all that great? No, like today there was racial, sexual and religious intolerance, and a sort of false air of propriety, but there were some very positive aspects of those days that we should try to retain in this lightening-fast world that we now live in. It seems that when I grew up in the 1950's there were some basic core values that everyone seemed to understand and implicitly agree upon. I realize that those were relatively simple days ,not complicated by the vast choices that present themselves here in the new millennium, but something seems to have been lost. Today the definition of "values" seems to be determined by the political views you ascribe to, while in the world of the 1950's there appeared to be a universal agreement as to the real meaning of human values, based in a sense of universal fairness and wishing of well-being for your fellow man. There seemed to be at least the ideals of honesty and trust in days gone by that have disappeared today. We criticize the elderly today for being gullible and falling for the tricks of the scam artists, but we should remember that their gullibility is the left-over shreds of yesterday's trust in your fellow man. It is shameful that we have created a modern world where honesty and trust is ridiculed while deception is revered and admired. We admire and vote in the politician who is the best trickster, and can fool the most people into believing that they need him and his opponent is scum.
I sometimes wonder where the adults went. When I was growing up I had the (probably naive) idea that there were adults in charge who had the best interest our world in mind when they made decisions. I trusted that these adults were looking to the future, and making decisions that would protect and benefit mankind regardless of political or religious differences. I now look around and feel very frightened that the adults are gone, and they forgot to pass these goals and ideals on to their successors. It seems that the successors inherited power and control without any concept of the responsibility toward mankind that naturally accompanies power. They seem to have discovered that you can actually lie and get away with it. Nobody really cares, or at least we are easily fooled. They found that if they said something loud enough and repeated it enough times it would become the new truth and the masses would follow like sheep without questioning it's veracity. To quote Mark Twain: " All you need in this life is ignorance and confidence, and then success is sure."
How did this happen? Isn't there some sort of universal truth that will prevail? I like to think so, but I wonder, since each generation bemoans the continuing downfall of the succeeding group. Are we just sheep after all, following blindly whatever is fed to us by the pervading ever-present media. Would I give all this up? Probably not -- baaah!
I suppose we have all known that old crotchety guy that is always complaining and wishing for the "way it use to be". You wanted to say, "get over it old dude, it's a new world", and you would be right. The world is constantly changing, and things will never be quite the same. Yet, now that I am that old dude I can see some validity in his grieving for the past. The clock cannot be literally turned back, and we do not want to stifle progress, yet it seems that each generation loses a bit of the essence of humanitarianism.
Must we lose that core of humanity? I don't know, but it is regretful that we seem to lose a portion with each generation. Oh, of course we gain something with each changing of the guard. Who could give up the advances and conveniences that have been gained. Who could return to the time that you had to wait a week for news to reach you, or the need for information sent you to the library or the encyclopedia - that now useless dinosaur that used to be the source of all knowledge. I couldn't even publish this little personal diatribe without computers and the internet.
Information, however, may just be too readily available. Is it really beneficial for us all to witness first hand, and in real time, school shootings, bombings, wars, and the daily movements of celebrities? The world is moving at a too-rapid clip, it seems. We have little time to absorb and digest events before we have moved on to another more exciting and tragic experience. We seem to be spiraling forever upward to more and more extreme experiences, and the media continually appeals to our more base desires to attract us. I wonder where it will end. There seems to be too little time to have a reasoned reaction to what we learn. Our boredom threshold has been lowered drastically so that we must always be entertained and occupied, lest we actually think, reason, and feel natural emotions. We now must learn to multitask and be constantly occupied. Even approaching 70 years of age I now find myself needing to consult another handy electronic device if there is a lull in the TV program I am watching.
So, were the old days all that great? No, like today there was racial, sexual and religious intolerance, and a sort of false air of propriety, but there were some very positive aspects of those days that we should try to retain in this lightening-fast world that we now live in. It seems that when I grew up in the 1950's there were some basic core values that everyone seemed to understand and implicitly agree upon. I realize that those were relatively simple days ,not complicated by the vast choices that present themselves here in the new millennium, but something seems to have been lost. Today the definition of "values" seems to be determined by the political views you ascribe to, while in the world of the 1950's there appeared to be a universal agreement as to the real meaning of human values, based in a sense of universal fairness and wishing of well-being for your fellow man. There seemed to be at least the ideals of honesty and trust in days gone by that have disappeared today. We criticize the elderly today for being gullible and falling for the tricks of the scam artists, but we should remember that their gullibility is the left-over shreds of yesterday's trust in your fellow man. It is shameful that we have created a modern world where honesty and trust is ridiculed while deception is revered and admired. We admire and vote in the politician who is the best trickster, and can fool the most people into believing that they need him and his opponent is scum.
I sometimes wonder where the adults went. When I was growing up I had the (probably naive) idea that there were adults in charge who had the best interest our world in mind when they made decisions. I trusted that these adults were looking to the future, and making decisions that would protect and benefit mankind regardless of political or religious differences. I now look around and feel very frightened that the adults are gone, and they forgot to pass these goals and ideals on to their successors. It seems that the successors inherited power and control without any concept of the responsibility toward mankind that naturally accompanies power. They seem to have discovered that you can actually lie and get away with it. Nobody really cares, or at least we are easily fooled. They found that if they said something loud enough and repeated it enough times it would become the new truth and the masses would follow like sheep without questioning it's veracity. To quote Mark Twain: " All you need in this life is ignorance and confidence, and then success is sure."
How did this happen? Isn't there some sort of universal truth that will prevail? I like to think so, but I wonder, since each generation bemoans the continuing downfall of the succeeding group. Are we just sheep after all, following blindly whatever is fed to us by the pervading ever-present media. Would I give all this up? Probably not -- baaah!
