I am not a Labor Leader; I do not want you to follow me or anyone else; if you are looking for a Moses to lead you out of this capitalist wilderness, you will stay right where you are. I would not lead you into the promised land if I could, because if I lead you in, some one else would lead you out. You must use your heads as well as your hands, and get yourself out of your present condition. -Eugene Debs, 1910.
The problem with Flower Power and such was that few people were capable of living up to the hippie ethos: peace, love, and understanding.
Most jumped on the bandwagon for the free drugs and easy sex. Notice I didn't say "free love".
When the floodgates were opened, Pandora's Box was opened as well. We cannot latch it shut; we can only perform damage control for the furies that were unleashed. We must also be proactive in raising a new generation of children who are equipped to deal with these changing times.
We have produced a generation of people with absolutely no sense of delayed gratification. We have produced a generation of people who have been exposed to the worst excesses of humanity: all for the sake of making money.
Our children are growing up with record numbers of emotional problems. Research has proven that a person's brain does not finish developing until his/her early twenties. Yet, we are inundating people much younger than that with images and concepts even adults cannot correctly process.
The older I get, the more I believe that the liberal idea that provided enough education, people can rise above their prejudices is little more than an exploded myth.
I do not believe that most people have the ability to to make proper decisions for themselves. This was the fear of the Federalists, particularly Alexander Hamilton and John Jay, way back the beginning of this country.
But I do not ascribe to the claim of those who state, fatalistically, that this world is going to hell in a handbasket. We lived in a flawed world, not a fallen world. We can improve conditions here in our own way. Each of us can do something positive.
The inclination of many is to bury their heads in the sand and pretend.
These can be perceived as scary times, but these can also be perceived as thrilling times as well. Let us put aside our feelings of inadequacy. Let the leaders who have been born to lead set the course. Let those who feel powerless become empowered.
I have faith that we will rise to the occasion.
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1 comment:
Totally with you on the fact that our culture understands little if anything about delayed gratification.
But the fact that things are so dysfunction yet we are still afforded real human interaction leaves way for hope. People just have to search a little harder to find their niche, to learn rewarding behaviours and become good at doing things, doing them because it's good for the world.
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