Disconnected

 

“We demand too much of life, too little of ourselves”

-Christopher Lasch, The Culture of Narcissism: An American Life in an Age of Diminishing Expectations.

I suppose every older generation worries about the younger one.  Certainly, my baby boomer generation was of great concern to our parents, our teachers and coaches, law enforcement, the government and business leaders facing the daunting challenge of employing these young rebels.  

Looking back, I think we were just at the beginning of the unraveling, the great disconnect.  Two world wars, industrialization and mobility had already chipped away at the connections of place and kinship. Radio, movies and television opened eyes and ears in ways that would have been unimaginable to our ancestors.  Higher education prompted us to question our values, challenge authorities and proceed to seriously doubt their motives as well as the promises they had made to us.

Then we sort of got over it, took our place at the wheel, started making money and got very comfortable. Certainly not all of us, there are plenty of broken people and shattered dreams among aging baby boomers.  And most of us were late getting back to the values and lessons we had rejected in our youth. While we indeed may have been late in returning to those “values and lessons”, they were there.  They were in our head and in our heart.  There was a foundation, overgrown and neglected perhaps, but still there.  We might not have been able to go home again, but we remembered what it was like and why it mattered.

That was then, this is now and everything has changed. Much has been said and written about the impact of political extremism, the failure of our educational institutions, inflation, the ever-increasing gap between the rich and the poor, the bane of social media, the failure of the church, unchecked immigration, inequalities, injustice and more “isms” to fret about every day.  All these things have contributed in significant ways to the angst, anger, frustration and ultimately, the nihilism of so many young people.

But I think there is a larger underlying problem, and it did not just happen overnight.  There is a reason why these social, cultural, political, technological and economic challenges are having such negative effects on young people.  And that reason is the lack of positive, meaningful connections with other people, people who are actually part of their lives not some photoshopped stranger on their smartphone.

In almost every area of their lives younger generations are missing the connections that benefited so many of us baby boomers.  The connections weren’t perfect and some benefited more than others, but overall, we were more personally connected back then.  More of us grew up in two parent households. Most of  had siblings around, some even in the same bedroom.  We tended to live closer to grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins.  We went to church more regularly even if we didn’t want to go.  More of us attended smaller schools where there were not hundreds or even thousands of kids in our graduating class.  We were more likely to be around other kids in the neighborhood, free to wander and play and fall down.  We even learned the word no and suffered the consequences of disobedience at home or at school.  Sometimes we were made to feel bad or sad or angry, but there always seemed to be someone there to give us a hug.  We weren’t always happy or entertained and learned to live with that reality.  We even discovered early on and accepted that life is not fair.

As a society we must make some changes.  Young people need connections beyond just sharing grievances and bad ideas with other disconnected young people online.  They need families and friends who have families.  They need more discipline and even more love.  They need to be taught how to fly on their own and take responsibility even when it’s difficult or inconvenient.  They need more physical activity and less sugar.  Read books, book in hand and turning the pages. Learn to write in cursive, memorize poems and scripture and words of wisdom.  Learn to speak clearly and look people in the eye.  Think less of themselves and more of others treating them as they themselves would wish to be treated.  Listen more than talk.  Pay attention.  Accept that life is hard and at some point, they will endure pain and suffering.  Believe there is something more and better beyond this short life that we must live now in these bodies on this planet.  Always be thankful, don’t make excuses and never give up.  And stay connected...to real people. 

2026 Halftime Review

 

“I believe that everything happens for a reason.  People change so you can learn to let go, things go wrong so you can appreciate them when they’re right, you believe lies so eventually you learn to trust no one but yourself, and sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together.”

-Marilyn Monroe (born 100 years ago on June 1, 1926)

 

_IRAN

I predicted this would be more difficult than expected. Will it turn out to be more trouble than it was worth? Not if we achieve what we initially set out to do.  But I expect it to end with some sort of watered-down agreement that will be spun by both sides as a win. For as long as Islamic extremists remain in Iran and throughout the Middle East, and for that matter around the world; and as long as Western Civilization depends on oil, the blood feud will continue, unlikely to end well for either side.

_INFLATION

With the Iran conflict dragging on oil prices shot up almost 50% at one point only adding to the stubborn inflationary pressure Americans have been facing throughout most of this decade.  A reckoning is coming and it will not be pretty.

_TRUCKING

This subject means more to me because I am involved with it on a daily basis recruiting management, sales and executive talent for the industry.  It should mean a lot to everyone because certain truck drivers who had no business being on the road were having headline-making deadly accidents on a weekly basis.  Turns out that hundreds of thousands of truck drivers, most of those entering this country over the past 5 years, literally had no business driving 18-wheelers. The government crackdown is pulling thousands of these drivers (and trucks) off the road.  The result is rising freight rates and some relief for trucking companies that have suffered through a painful 3 year “freight recession”.  The downside is that those higher rates will end up adding to the cost of most everything. 

_FIFA World Cup

I really tried to watch it, but I fail to appreciate the “beautiful game”.  The athletes are exceptional and there are moments when the matches are as exciting as any sport one might watch.  I know this because I wait and watch those moments via recaps on You Tube.  I can see soccer being a great sport if you’re playing or your kids are playing.  But as a spectator sport, especially on television, it’s like spending two hours watching an ant farm.   For me the best thing coming out of the World Cup are the comments from our international visitors, in particular those from Europe.  Turns out that America is a great place after all despite what they have been fed by the media, entertainment and political elites.  Who knew? 

_DEMOCRATIC SOCIALISM

Why not give it a try, right? There are plenty of reasons why some people are embracing it, most of them revolving around “affordability” and “equity” grievances.  But life is not fair and they will discover soon enough neither is Democratic Socialism. 

_ICE

The aggressive “catch and remove” approach has been toned down a bit, but this remains a hot-button issue that will get a lot of attention from both parties going into the mid-terms.

_250

OK, technically July 4^th is in the second half of the year, but America is 250 years old so I will include it in the first half, the second half and whenever the mood strikes me.  Happy Birthday to us.

Another Crossroad

 

It seems that with every holiday, we are told that America is “At A Crossroad”.  These “At A Crossroad” commentaries come in all shades and shapes.  Some are hopeful, some an urgent call for action.  Some are resentful, others regretful and at their worst declare that America was doomed from the start and the only answer is to wipe the slate clean and start over.

I take these “crossroad warnings” seriously but always with the belief that we Americans will figure it out.  It won’t be perfect.  It never is and never could be because human beings are involved.  The freedoms that allow some of us to take the wrong turn allow others to right the ship.

Our history is one of sins and salvation. If one chooses to obsess over the sins of the fathers, they will never see the good things, the confessions and self-corrections.  They will let their image of the nation’s dark past blind them to the progress we’ve made and the underlying goodness of America.  Those who choose to only celebrate our success and are unwilling to admit our failures are in danger of becoming like the parents of a child who “can do no wrong” remaining uncorrected and over-indulged.

America is changing.  It always has and always will because people are changing, some for better and some for worse.  The American system of government remains the best humans have come up with so far. But if by way of our freedoms or by force we abandon it, others will surely take our place.