When Did Life Become Upside-down?

It used to be that "What, do you think the world revolves around you?" and "Do you think you're the center of the universe?" were occasional admonishments from parents and teachers for kids to 'wake up, wise up, grow up.' When did this change? When did it become a commonplace factor in American society for people who are far from being child-age to continue to feel that they are indeed the focal point around which the universe revolves-- and this belief not only being acceptable but actually promoted and encouraged?

It's like falling asleep, waking up, and finding that much of life-as-it-is is standing on its head. Have so many parents done such a lousy job of socializing their children that they come of age and long past, refusing to "put away the things of childhood," tenaciously clinging to an ever-increasing degree of self-centeredness? "The world, and everything in it, exists to suit me" is a concept children used to be socialized away from, usually before they even began Kindergarten. Not so these days; and it seems to have an eerie resemblance to a concept in Patricia Evans's book "Controlling People" where she writes of people who are not adequately self-defined attempting to manipulate as if everyone is one's own personal "Teddy," to be constructed to suit oneself.

Change other people to suit you, Change the world to suit you-- this childly view of life is most widespread in the subjects of religion and relationships; and it does not seem to be a sign of positive progress. Unfortunately, many truly believe that self-centeredness is a good thing.

One of the first related topics which came up was "comparitive religion." It was not so long ago that "a religion" was something parents "gave" to their children-- to whatever extent of their choice, giving kids some amount of information, education, practice, etc.,; it was considered to be as significant as giving one's children food, shelter, clothing. Whether it went to the full extent of a parochial school education, or simply "these are holiday we celebrate, and this is why we celebrate them," it was generally a basic part of a child's knowledge of who he was.

Not only does that knowledge no longer exist for many, neither do the expectations thereof. For many, religion is seen as a cafeteria of "pick-and-choose," and the only "expectation" is that it suit you. Comparitive religion has come to placing the full range of religions and pseudo-religions in front of people, telling them to pick out what suits them the best. This type of self-centeredness works best with the so-called "Me Generation" which is notorious for viewing life and everything and everyonein it as "disposable"-- if you do something that your religion considers Wrong, you've gotta change your religion, not yourself!

The impact that this self-centeredness has had on the subject of relationships leaves those of us with traditional backgrounds in a constant state of confusion-- and the refusal to conform to it. The traditional way was meeting a person, liking the person, and deciding to pursue it further based on the person. Somewhere along the line, however, this turned upside down-- a person decides that he or she wants "a relationship," and proceeds to look for "a person" to fit into it. With this backward view, one no longer places emphasis on "the person," but instead, only whether the person will fit into one's own plans, wishes, whims, and expectations-- a major overblown view of "thinking that you are the center of the universe."

Whether the topic is religion, relationships, or anything else, seeing much of American society standing on its head does bring up the thought "wake up, wise up, grow up!"