Two Generations Removed from a Moral Base

I never in my wildest dreams imagined that I would be wistful about the 1950's, but here I am, now an old curmudgeon, and I find that there are a few key elements of that rather artificial society that I would like to reclaim.

I am aware that some of this is just going to sound like an old person ranting about those rotten young kids. But I do believe that there is a basis for much of my opinion. Of course, I'm making huge generalities here, but overall, as a society, these changes are occurring.

As I watch young adults today, it seems to me that their world is very unstructured with no particular anchor (if you are a philosopher, read absolute truth) to tie themselves into. With the exception of some restraints, some of the time, it's mostly about doing what is best for "me." The phrase to live and die by is "whatever works for you is fine."

This lack of a set of standards, outside of ourselves, has eventually led to a world where there isn't much remaining that is right or wrong. If everyone gets to decide what is right for them, then there is no particular reason to treat others with respect, to use a client's money in a responsible manner, to be economical in our use of resources, or to do anything simply because it is "the right thing to do."

Religious standards have largely been thrown out by society, based on the claim that they are too stringent, lead to hypocrisy, guide through the use of fear, can't be based in reality since there is no God, etc... But to replace those standards society has tried to legislate morality, and we have pretty much reached the level of realizing that it can't be done. Now instead of reverent fear for a judgement by an honest God, we try to enforce standards through fear of a clearly broken legal/ justice system, and the people who enforce it.

We have lost touch with the planet which sustains us, and I am not talking about big "issues" like climate change, or saving the rainforest. I am talking about realities much closer to our own lives and well-being. Everything comes from the store. We have a very limited concept of how we get our food, where clothing comes from, or how to care for animals. The fact that nature is not all cute and cuddly is difficult for many to accept. We've labeled all "germs" as bad, all furry things as "good," and just don't want to think about the tons and tons of insects who are the dominant faunal biomass on the earth.

We are a society of people who would not know how to build a fire and boil some water when confronted with a disaster. If it doesn't plug in, we are lost.

We have failed to teach our children how to do things. We have waited on them to the point where young adults can not cook a meal without a frozen microwaveable package. We haven't taught them how to raise children, so what we have now is a generation of immature men and women who ignore their babies to the point of abuse. We haven't retained authority, instead treating children as equals. It's now ok for children to negotiate the controls over their lives with their parents. (I kid you not, I watched a program on PBS last month which was teaching children how to do this... and not subtly, they called it negotiating with your parents.)

This has all happened in three generations. I'm one of those baby boomers. We were told that we were the largest, brightest, and most important generation, and we believed it! We rebelled against the strict Victorian standards of our parents, advocated free love and did as we pleased. When we got it all out of our systems, we mostly settled down and became responsible adults. But we had more or less discarded the moral standards of our parents, and we passed whatever standards we had left to our children rather haphazardly.

Our children caught on that although we may have told them that there were such things as right and wrong, that we didn't really take it very seriously. They tried to maintain a semblance of making right choices just because it was a good thing to do for society, but there was no longer any real reason to keep up the charade.

Their children are now reaching adulthood. Having grown up with parents who eventually gave up pretending to believe in objective standards, they simply have no concept of right or wrong. When a wallet full of money is found it is easily kept and considered good fortune. When working with another person and there is a chance to get ahead by "stepping on" them, it is done and the other person is considered a sucker for being weak. When confronted with an unwanted baby, it is simply an inconvenience rather than a life to be cared for.

It is difficult to imagine what the next generation will be like. There seems to be some small movement by young people to embrace gardening, eating local foods, learning fibercrafts such as knitting, and at least giving lip service to caring about the natural world, but none of these things will be a satisfactory substitute for real moral direction.

Where there is little respect for authority, and no set of standards other than ones we each choose for ourselves....

... we have arrived at anarchy.