“Equal opportunity means equal opportunity to demonstrate individual competence. It has nothing to do with giving stuff away for free.”
What’s Wrong with Kids Today?
Nothing!
They are the product of their experiences and the beliefs taught them by their mentors and guides. They have learned exactly what they were told and taught. They are a perfect example of the results of the conditioning impressed on them by television, social media, public schools, and every other special interest that happened to cast a net over their hearts and minds .They are the result of an ideology born out of fear and resentment rather than hope and love.
They are the finished polished example of an ideology of equality through inequality and the disintegration of respect and admiration for individual accomplishments, with the exception of the entertainment industry. In the arena of entertainment where actors are elevated to the status of demigods, the line between fiction and reality has blurred. Actors are now confused with the characters they play who display admirable qualities that the actor or actress may or may not possess, but because people love the character they have transferred their trust and admiration to a fallible, insecure human they know absolutely nothing about.
Kids today have been taught that we are all equal and everyone deserves equal recognition for their ability to simply breathe regardless of their contribution to the group. They’ve been conditioned to fail to notice the fact that one or more of their group doesn’t perform as well as they do. We’ve taught them that their own exceptional qualities are things to be despised because it makes those around them that are less smart, efficient, athletic, organized… in a word… capable, feel… less capable. They are not allowed to be special, so they aren’t. For example, the NFL gives players penalties for celebrating being exceptional. It’s time to take a deep look at what our goals really are. If we don’t want to see greatness… Why are we playing the game?
We’ve taught them that some groups, not individual cases, are not as equal as others. Therefore, the assumption is that these groups must be treated with certain benefits and privileges in order to make up for the disrespect and persecution they have suffered at the hands of our grandfathers. They believe that by shifting the pendulum of justice to the side of the oppressed they will restore the balance of equality. Because we have trained them not to see… they cannot see that, in reality, all this does is create a new inequality.
Imagine someone saying; “Destroy racism! Only hire black people!” To an older generation this statement is ridiculous. It demonstrates the racism in anti-racist propaganda.
I hope you can see the ridiculousness in this slogan. If not… try this one; “Destroy racism! Only hire white people!” Same thing… different emotional responses, and there is the issue. We, the older generation, have trained kids to think with their emotions. We’ve never encouraged them to dissect, logically, an opposing opinion. We’ve instilled in them the dogma of social justice while convincing them that the dogma of christianity, of morality, is evil. Dogma is evil, just as zealotry is evil. I agree that churches have persecuted people and committed atrocities. But… let he who is without sin cast the first stone. Are you perfect? Pull the log from your own eye before you criticize your brother for the speck in his.
Anything inflexible and concrete lacks the ability to adapt to individual circumstances. We need to be careful of blanket statements and criticisms. There is an exception to every rule. Don’t be quick to judge. Don’t substitute dogma, in any form, with morality. Church is not equal to God. Government is not equal to truth. And humans are not all equal in ability.
Some of us remember the movie, “White Men Can’t Jump”? Some of us are more competent than others. They deserve more because they do more, and that has absolutely nothing to do with their race, color, creed, religion, or lack of religion. Mother Nature’s law is that you get more if you do more. If you are a better hunter you eat more meat. If you build a house you will be warm. If you wait for someone else to give you a house you may spend a lot of cold winters outdoors. Sorry, that’s the facts.
It seems as though there are fewer and fewer examples where individual accomplishments are celebrated or encouraged. The focus is on group effort, group achievements, and group ideology. None of those things are inherently bad. They become bad when the individual is forgotten, when dogma supersedes rational thought and emotions rule behavior rather than disciplined action based on moral principles.
Rational morals and ethics provide all of the desired outcomes of the ideology without the detrimental effects of dogma. A moral decision is naturally the best one for the instance at hand. Blanket rules and regulations can’t provide any room for the inevitable nuances and isolated variables that life presents. We need wisdom!
Wisdom is the only thing that can make sense of the overwhelming variety of opinions, options, selections, studies, facts, figures, data, beliefs, colors, and advice that we are assaulted with daily. Information is stored. Knowledge is gained. Wisdom is earned. Wisdom comes with a price. That price is the continual necessity for honesty, humility, and self denial. It is found only by tapping into Omniscience.
Omniscience can’t be found in a state of self-pity or resentment. It happens when you have been reduced to your essence, when you have nothing to gain or lose, when you lost all your skin in the game. When the mountain was too high. When the climb was too tough. When you have fallen and are broken and have nothing left. When your dreams are gone. When your strength is not there and death whispers to you. When your body has failed and your mind starts to fade. When all you desire is rest. That’s where you find God. That’s where you find Omniscience. That’s where you find wisdom.
Wisdom is the child of suffering and privation. It appears to show us what is truly valuable and lasting. It can’t be found in affluence and comfort. For this reason we are tested. For this reason life is suffering, because all of us have ghosts that haunt us. None are immune. But despite the horrors and difficulties Wisdom comforts us with the refrain… “Don’t be afraid. I am here. I am.”
It says, “Dream like you’ll live forever. Live like you’re running out of time. Love like there is no tomorrow.” It says forgive the “kids” because they are exactly the way we wanted them to become.
But what do I know?
I’m just a dumigod.