The Age of Obnoxiousness -- A New Millennium
By: Dr. T
Foreword: For me, it was never a question of whether I would write this column it was simply a question of when. There should be a time in everyone's life when things come together. For me, it is middle age. Middle age is quite a good age, actually one is old enough to have acquired experience through living and young enough to use the experience to make a contribution. What's novel about this writing is that it comes from the trenches. No journalist elite here, no member of the avant-garde, but a perspective from an everyday hard-working and equally hard-thinking citizen. Funny how this almost sounds like the fringe, but truly it isn't, for the United States is made up of millions of people like me. And I am honored to give them a voice. I've worked for over 30 years, paid taxes and watched society evolve. As a product of the 60's, I have witnessed major changes that have brought us to the place we are today. I have come to one sweeping conclusion: we have advanced almost beyond comprehension technologically, but socially we are regressing. As this column evolves I will attempt to explain why.
Dedication:
This column is dedicated to the "founders", those brave and self-sacrificing men who had a vision of a country where citizens would be free. Free to pursue their hopes and dreams, free to be all they could be. And so it was born, the America of George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, James Madison, et al. Through their blood, sweat and tears the most progressive social experiment in the history of the world was born. They created the single most powerful document of modern times, the Constitution of the United States of America. I shall be forever grateful for their wisdom and their untiring resolve. For were it not for them, America may have been just another oppressive regime rather than the wondrous land that immigrants peril their lives every day to attain.
Chapter One: Ozzie and Harriet
Each generation builds from the last. Societal changes and trends don't happen overnight; they build one upon the other. I was born in 1950 and I will tell you in no uncertain terms that it was a gentler decade, perhaps the most gentle we have seen before or since. The reason for this is twofold. First of all it was post World War II. Our soldiers, those lucky enough to have lived through it, were home. They were working and building a life for themselves and their families. They were happy to put the war behind them, they did their duty, made supreme sacrifices in the name of freedom and now they simply wanted to get on with their lives. The GI Bill of Rights, established in 1944, gave veterans six benefits:
Education and training
Loan guaranty for a home, farm or business
Unemployment pay of $20 a week for up to 52 weeks
Job-finding assistance
Top priority for building materials for VA hospitals
Military review of dishonorable discharges
As a result of this bill, veterans were bettering themselves. Families were on the move. Levittown is the shining example of post World War II expansion. Tract homes went up like giant grids on Long Island, New York and in similar fashion all across the nation. And of course, lots of babies were born, hence my generation came to be known as the "Baby Boomers", the biggest population growth in history.
The second reason for this being a gentler decade was that there still was an overwhelming respect for authority and a clear vision of right and wrong. People did not rely on shades of gray to shirk their responsibility. People were more accountable. We had not yet become a society with syndromes for every type of bad behavior and addiction. We had our share of drug addicts and alcoholics but we recognized that people make choices and we did not bestow upon them a "disease" they could stand behind. If you drank to excess you were a drunk, pure and simple. By today's standards, this reasoning would be viewed as unfeeling, intolerant and barbaric. In fact, it was realistic. Programs such as Alcoholics Anonymous were in place, but the onus was on the individual. We had far less crime too. Again, I believe, because of the emphasis on individual responsibility. We had not yet come to that juncture in society that shifted blame from the evil doers to society at large. But the shift in thinking was very close at hand...................
to be continued
Foreword: For me, it was never a question of whether I would write this column it was simply a question of when. There should be a time in everyone's life when things come together. For me, it is middle age. Middle age is quite a good age, actually one is old enough to have acquired experience through living and young enough to use the experience to make a contribution. What's novel about this writing is that it comes from the trenches. No journalist elite here, no member of the avant-garde, but a perspective from an everyday hard-working and equally hard-thinking citizen. Funny how this almost sounds like the fringe, but truly it isn't, for the United States is made up of millions of people like me. And I am honored to give them a voice. I've worked for over 30 years, paid taxes and watched society evolve. As a product of the 60's, I have witnessed major changes that have brought us to the place we are today. I have come to one sweeping conclusion: we have advanced almost beyond comprehension technologically, but socially we are regressing. As this column evolves I will attempt to explain why.
Dedication:
This column is dedicated to the "founders", those brave and self-sacrificing men who had a vision of a country where citizens would be free. Free to pursue their hopes and dreams, free to be all they could be. And so it was born, the America of George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, James Madison, et al. Through their blood, sweat and tears the most progressive social experiment in the history of the world was born. They created the single most powerful document of modern times, the Constitution of the United States of America. I shall be forever grateful for their wisdom and their untiring resolve. For were it not for them, America may have been just another oppressive regime rather than the wondrous land that immigrants peril their lives every day to attain.
Chapter One: Ozzie and Harriet
Each generation builds from the last. Societal changes and trends don't happen overnight; they build one upon the other. I was born in 1950 and I will tell you in no uncertain terms that it was a gentler decade, perhaps the most gentle we have seen before or since. The reason for this is twofold. First of all it was post World War II. Our soldiers, those lucky enough to have lived through it, were home. They were working and building a life for themselves and their families. They were happy to put the war behind them, they did their duty, made supreme sacrifices in the name of freedom and now they simply wanted to get on with their lives. The GI Bill of Rights, established in 1944, gave veterans six benefits:
Education and training
Loan guaranty for a home, farm or business
Unemployment pay of $20 a week for up to 52 weeks
Job-finding assistance
Top priority for building materials for VA hospitals
Military review of dishonorable discharges
As a result of this bill, veterans were bettering themselves. Families were on the move. Levittown is the shining example of post World War II expansion. Tract homes went up like giant grids on Long Island, New York and in similar fashion all across the nation. And of course, lots of babies were born, hence my generation came to be known as the "Baby Boomers", the biggest population growth in history.
The second reason for this being a gentler decade was that there still was an overwhelming respect for authority and a clear vision of right and wrong. People did not rely on shades of gray to shirk their responsibility. People were more accountable. We had not yet become a society with syndromes for every type of bad behavior and addiction. We had our share of drug addicts and alcoholics but we recognized that people make choices and we did not bestow upon them a "disease" they could stand behind. If you drank to excess you were a drunk, pure and simple. By today's standards, this reasoning would be viewed as unfeeling, intolerant and barbaric. In fact, it was realistic. Programs such as Alcoholics Anonymous were in place, but the onus was on the individual. We had far less crime too. Again, I believe, because of the emphasis on individual responsibility. We had not yet come to that juncture in society that shifted blame from the evil doers to society at large. But the shift in thinking was very close at hand...................
to be continued
posted by Daedalus at 5/05/2005 12:01:00 PM
1 Comments:
Right on, Dr. T!!! Can't wait for the next part!
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