All human beings are children of God. Imperfect beings stumbling through their days, blind to their potential and often ignorant of the miracle of their very existence.
I try very hard to keep this always in mind—if not at the forefront, at least close to the surface where it is simple for me to reach in order to remind myself. This is not always easy to do, because I am just as subject to the pressures of living as anyone else. I’m as haunted by the hubristic spiritual shadow, that mean and shallow narcissism, that lurks in every heart and rages against moral order as any other man.
We often hear it said that we live in troubled times. Meh. Humanity has always lived in troubled times. The orcs of Hamas are nothing new and their atrocities (as awful as they are) are not a new thing upon the earth. I could list many atrocities here, from the Holocaust to the sacking of cities in ancient Greece. There is nothing novel about cruelty. Humanity is forever saddled with the gremlins of stupidity and avarice. They haven’t evaporated with civilization and civilization hasn’t ended the problem. There has never been a shortage of completely bone-headed theories to justify anything we choose to do. From Plato’s Theory of Form to the Gender Theory and Racial Theory of today, there has never been a time when we weren’t saddled with one really stupid idea or another.
To date, here in the United States, two things have (mostly) protected us from the worst of this: the rule of law and our shared sense of a moral center. There are those who would argue that there is nothing special about the United States, or even Western Civilization, and so far as people and instincts are concerned, I would generally agree. The institutions, however—our laws, churches, and schools—have traditionally gone a long way toward curbing the worst of human inclinations. Not completely, but mostly. Like the two theories previously mentioned (Gender and Race, which both fall under the despotic umbrella of bullshit, Critical Theory) we in the states are no more immune from bad ideas than any other group, and because of this the influence of these institutions has diminished.
Beginning in the 80s American education and culture began to emphasize self-esteem as a goal. We’ve all heard of and seen the goofy participation trophies, watched as parents and teachers showered unearned praise on children, and society shielded a generation (or two) from criticism and consequences. Teachers were prevented from having any games with winners and losers. For someone to be a winner, it was argued, someone else must be a loser, and that would damage their self-esteem. Many stood in the way, waving their arms, arguing that self-esteem is well and good, but it must be earned, grounded in actual accomplishment, because all things are not equal. These people were discounted as cranks. What did they know? Fuddy Duddies stuck in the past. This theory was new and shiny!
We’re seeing the results of this experiment now.
Because, sad to say, all things are not equal. Human intelligence, for example, is distributed on a bell curve. It doesn’t matter if one rejects the standard IQ measurements (the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale or the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale or the Army General Classification Test), the fact is some people are very smart, and many people are not. Using the Wechsler scale, the mean average IQ is 100 and 96% of the population falls between 70 and 130. Most people are not particularly bright. This is not to say they are not spectacularly capable—everyone is an expert at something—but rather to say though they are fully qualified to navigate their own lives, they should probably refrain from attempting to control anyone else. The thing that no scale can measure is the tendency of everyone, wherever they fall on the bell curve, to assume they are smarter than they actually are.
When one tells someone who is not smart, again and again, that they are? Well, they begin to believe it themselves. Who wouldn’t? We all think we are smarter than we are.
This is also true of morality. Tell someone that they are good, just for being who they are, and eventually they will believe it. You’re smart and you’re good! No effort or thought required. Introspection is for sissies. It’s Tik-Tok followers and likes on Facebook that actually matter!
Compound this with being raised under constant supervision on play dates, where no one ever runs head on into consequences for bad behavior.
What could go wrong?
Is it just me? Does it seem like mutual respect and manners are becoming passe?
Body cameras are used by more and more police departments. They were demanded by advocates for social justice, as a means to prevent abuses by the police, but what they show is something else entirely. Stupid, entitled people, so wrapped up in their own delusional bubble they believe the “law” is anything they want it to be at any given moment.
Try it. Jump on Youtube and search “Police body cam”. Maybe toss in “entitled”.
It is breathtaking. And it is the logical result of telling everyone they are absolutely correct. They are victims. They deserve what they want, when they want it. Ego uber alles.
It seems that, culturally, we have fallen into the trap of normalizing stupidity, selfishness, and mental illness. And it’s across the board. Rich and poor. Black and white. Men and women. It is a bull market for Dumb and Delusional.
How do we fix this? I honestly do not know. Raise our standards? Insist upon and teach manners and humility? Peg punishment and rewards to actual behavior? Shun idiots and sociopaths?
It’s pretty clear what doesn’t work. Nihilism. Relativism. Believing in nothing but Me and Now.
The problem is much deeper than boorish people interacting with cops doing their job, though. It really runs to a populace who has forgotten who they are. Rather than understanding that every life is a miracle, every person a universe, we have lost sight of how miraculous we are and have surrendered to the crazy notion that we are accountable to no one—not the neighbors, not fellow citizens, not the law, not to any power greater than ourselves. As stated, this is nothing new. History is littered with such populations. It just feels like something new here.
It is disturbing, and it is up to all of us to raise, and be, better people. Want a better world? Don’t protest. Don’t push. Just don’t be a dick.
Peace.
As always, a excellent and thoughtful weite up. Thanks Mr. T and Happy New Year. 🎆🥂
Happy New Year... hope to catch up in 24✌️