Liberation Movements Gone Mad - Bad Behavior, Teen Pregnancy, Truancy and Hopelessness in the Heartland - Any Solutions (interview, lawyer)
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Americans are fed this script from childhood: you need to grow up, get good grades, go to a good college college, get a job, have some fun (but not too much fun!), settle down and get married, go to church, have 2.5 kids and a dog, take out a mortgage and car loan, pay off your student loans, and then hopefully build your little nest egg so you can retire with a savings and, if you're lucky enough, a pension just in time to take care of your grandkids. If you screw up any of these steps, miss one intentionally or unintentionally, do them in the wrong order, or don't want to do any of them, then you're probably going to be a failure or there is something wrong with you.
The so-called 'Me' generation is the one that realized there's something more to life than growing up to be a wage slave, or maybe they aren't interested in being in a hetero relationship, or any relationship at all. Maybe they decided that the 2.5 kids and a mortgage weren't for them; and that they wanted to travel or pursue other interests instead. Perhaps they weren't interested in the 9-5 office job. Maybe they stopped going to church or believing in god.
This is the 'liberation' movement - the freedom in 2018 to make your own choices about how you are going to live your life on your own terms. Because at the end of the day, if you follow every step of the 1950's 'Leave it to Beaver' Life Script; there's no guarantee that you are going to be happy. Quite the opposite; we see miserable people living lives they hate, working in miserable jobs to pay for the mortgage or the kids they never really wanted in the first place. Depression, suicide and opioid abuse are at epidemic levels. Child abuse and neglect is way too frequent. What we are seeing in the culture now is a backlash against that - the realization that it's time to accept that there's no one-size-fits all way to live, that hard work for its own sake is not necessarily a moral good, and that trying to emulate our parents or grandparents lifestyles or family structure won't make us happy. The realization that we only get one life to live on this earth and if 'selfish' to live it on our own terms, then maybe selfish isn't such a dirty word after all?
Americans are fed this script from childhood: you need to grow up, get good grades, go to a good college college, get a job, have some fun (but not too much fun!), settle down and get married, go to church, have 2.5 kids and a dog, take out a mortgage and car loan, pay off your student loans, and then hopefully build your little nest egg so you can retire with a savings and, if you're lucky enough, a pension just in time to take care of your grandkids. If you screw up any of these steps, miss one intentionally or unintentionally, do them in the wrong order, or don't want to do any of them, then you're probably going to be a failure or there is something wrong with you.
It's really not that exacting but the script is that you should live some sort of an orderly life. Getting a job and getting married are important to that pattern. Not everyone is cut out for college. We recognize that. A healthy mixture of work and play is needed. As is paying your obligations.
What's the alternative? Mommy and Daddy keep paying? I don't think so.
Or society? As it is government does a mixed job at providing services. And taxpayers quickly tire of the obligation.
Quote:
Originally Posted by vladlensky
The so-called 'Me' generation is the one that realized there's something more to life than growing up to be a wage slave, or maybe they aren't interested in being in a hetero relationship, or any relationship at all. Maybe they decided that the 2.5 kids and a mortgage weren't for them; and that they wanted to travel or pursue other interests instead. Perhaps they weren't interested in the 9-5 office job. Maybe they stopped going to church or believing in god.
It's great to say "I don't want (fill in the blank). Peter Pan didn't have much luck in saying "I don't want to grow up." Babies are cute but if our children stayed babies for much longer than they do they would lose their allure.
Quote:
Originally Posted by vladlensky
This is the 'liberation' movement - the freedom in 2018 to make your own choices about how you are going to live your life on your own terms. Because at the end of the day, if you follow every step of the 1950's 'Leave it to Beaver' Life Script; there's no guarantee that you are going to be happy. Quite the opposite; we see miserable people living lives they hate, working in miserable jobs to pay for the mortgage or the kids they never really wanted in the first place. Depression, suicide and opioid abuse are at epidemic levels. Child abuse and neglect is way too frequent. What we are seeing in the culture now is a backlash against that - the realization that it's time to accept that there's no one-size-fits all way to live, that hard work for its own sake is not necessarily a moral good, and that trying to emulate our parents or grandparents lifestyles or family structure won't make us happy. The realization that we only get one life to live on this earth and if 'selfish' to live it on our own terms, then maybe selfish isn't such a dirty word after all?
See above. The Declaration of Independence guarantees the "pursuit of happiness" as my father of blessed memory lectured me.
I recently became aware of an online rant by certain individual, who stated that he was between 15 and 18 years old. The person presented himself as a high school student. He described himself as living in “Loserville,” a town adjacent to “Craktown” and stated that he was only interested in “getting money fast” and “school (is) not (his) interest.” He also described that he and his friends were into activities that were “very not right.”
This post or essay from this young man seemed intelligent. He stated that he was not a migrant or a member of any group subject to racial or ethnic discrimination.
This got me to thinking about problems such as teen pregnancies, dropping out of society, opioid abuse and bad behavior generally. These people are, in general, not going to grow into being providers. They are going to parent children who don't know their fathers, and may not even know their mothers, because of incarceration.
The question is how do we get people back to pride in their homes, schools and community? Single parenthood, unconventional relationships, and dropping out of school are the order of the day. What have we gained by "liberating" people from nuclear family-hood? And teaching children that there are no rules, no limits. Is the mental anguish this is causing eased only by opioids? Why are religious, educational or community leaders taking an interest? Where are the pastors, teachers and small-town mayors?
While politically I am liberal, I feel that experimentation in lifestyles, gender identities and sexual promiscuity that has developed since the "Summer of (Free) Love" in Haight-Ashbury in 1967 has not ended well. Time to walk back from the experiment. Maybe "Ozzie and Harriet"and "Leave it to Beaver" were cornball but at at least the results are better than we have now.
You are liberal? OK, then the benefits of your views do bring negatives. That is part of life. Liberals do try to change the world for the best as they see it. Well, guess what? There are untended consequences. Liberals tend to push the button and at times and in some issues do go too far. In my opinion, individuality is such a thing liberals have too far to the point we should do and whatever we want with no restrictions.
Communities have been the social control for a long time. Granted, communities did have some implied morals that may control peoples live but those mores were the glue that binded communities together. That has been lost a lot. In my youth, God forbid if I used a curse word in front of adults. Today, see what happens if an adult tells a young kid not to curse. Mom and Dad would jump on that individual for interfering with their parenting. That is just one example.
If you want change, I do not have a problem with liberal attitudes but it would be good to blend it with some conservative views too. The same opinion applies for conservative when they see how liberals do things.
You have a great day.
Salvador
Oh look. They've gone down, consistently, since the 60's.
"Hopelessness"
Not buying that one, either, at least not across the board. I do think that some very specific regions and demographics are either suffering certain problems that make things seem hopeless, or they are getting a taste of hopelessness that they haven't historically had to figure out how to deal with. Certain individuals are creating pretty massive collateral damage when their particular flavor of hopelessness causes them to explode, and some individuals now have an international platform to voice their complaints (the internet) that nobody had back in the 60's.
I mean...lol...can you honestly imagine someone trying to phone in to a national, let alone international news outlet trying to broadcast to everyone the message that...
- They can't get a date.
- They have no friends.
- Their parents didn't spend enough time with them.
- Men are trash or women are evil (pick your poison)
- Only 20% of the fittest humans get to be happy and the other 80% suffers in misery.
- Being around other human beings causes them unreasonable amounts of "anxiety."
- They have a Very Important Opinion about a recent court case or political incident that all and sundry need to hear for some reason.
- They hereby declare themselves to be a different gender or orientation.
- They hereby require everyone to tell them Merry Christmas and not Happy Holidays.
I mean, whatever your THING is, can you seriously imagine feeling the need to expect practically the entire freaking world to hear you out and be an audience and care, before the internet? Is it really any wonder that we can find no purpose or meaning, with all this shouting into the void we're doing? One guaranteed result is that we will all get a bitter dose of "No one actually cares" medicine, sooner or later, and consistently.
And the loud, the extreme, the explosive and badly behaved among us, will have all the folks going "tsk tsk" and shaking their heads, talking about how different and better it surely was, back in the "good old days."
Tell you what though. My parents didn't have a better life than I had. Neither did my Grandparents, or their parents, as far as I know. There is no time and place I would rather be, though things are not perfect, and I know of many areas where I'd like to see improvement.
You are liberal? OK, then the benefits of your views do bring negatives. That is part of life. Liberals do try to change the world for the best as they see it. Well, guess what? There are untended consequences. Liberals tend to push the button and at times and in some issues do go too far. In my opinion, individuality is such a thing liberals have too far to the point we should do and whatever we want with no restrictions.
Communities have been the social control for a long time. Granted, communities did have some implied morals that may control peoples live but those mores were the glue that binded communities together. That has been lost a lot. In my youth, God forbid if I used a curse word in front of adults. Today, see what happens if an adult tells a young kid not to curse. Mom and Dad would jump on that individual for interfering with their parenting. That is just one example.
If you want change, I do not have a problem with liberal attitudes but it would be good to blend it with some conservative views too. The same opinion applies for conservative when they see how liberals do things.
You have a great day.
Salvador
I will quote a "P.S." line from an email I sent a friend, in connection with our mutual attendance at the Conference on Jews and Conservatism in New York: "As you well know it sticks in my craw that these positions (to be expressed by conference speakers) are now considered "conservative" and views fit only for psychiatric institutions are considered 'liberal.' Such is life."
In the “good old days” women and any non-white, non-heterosexual male was confined to a mediocre, low paying job (if they had access to work at all). How is that an improvement? Not only did they not perceive a future, there really WAS no future for them that was positive.
Its too late. The country socially is circling the drain. Watch the movie "Idiocracy" and you'll see the future. Poverty and lawlessness is what is in our future.
The culture is promoting bad behavior. Young people have a 24/7 diet of screen time promoting money, glamor, easy sex, gun violence and killing. Video games promoting killing and car theft. Movies full of violence and soft porn. Magazines filled with Hollywood antics and sex tips. Everyone on TV and in the movies is rich and beautiful--and not earned by working hard at the local grocery store or studying hard for their math test, that's for sure.
If that's what they watch, that's what they'll become.
Personally, I do not watch any TV shows or movies that have violence or sex in them and I do not read any tabloids. I'm not interested in what various actors or actresses are doing. They've all been divorced twice over, sometimes more, and if not married, they're running around with one person after another. Certainly not good role models. I hate Hollywood and I won't support it.
I feel for these young people who are getting led astray by the culture and who are bored but...someone bore these kids and isn't doing their job to raise them properly. THAT'S the person to blame here.
Hmmm, that's odd. I'm 31, and grew up playing violent video games and watched movies with sex or violence in them, and I came out fine. Have a great career, take care of my responsibilities, and not once did I ever think to myself, "I should steal that guy's car! It'll just be like how it was that time I played GTA! What could go wrong?" Then again, I raised to know right from wrong and to also have respect.
Stop blaming the movies and video games. Blame the parents for not doing their job.
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Then again, I raised to know right from wrong and to also have respect.