As I carefully trudge toward the beginning of my sixth decade, there are many emotions clamouring around in my head all at the same time.
Excited, anxious, inspired and thankful….. yes, most prominent of my emotions would be thankful. Considering the last few years of my life and the fact I am still among us, able to look back, yes I am very thankful.
I am also a bit confused, or perhaps curious is a better description.
Although I have never been known to be a religious individual, I do believe there is more to our existence than this. I have read that God only gives us the burden he knows we can bear. If this is true, I must thank him for the confidence that he / she (my attempt at political correctness) has placed in us.
Perhaps with age you become more aware of tragedy, whether it be personal or global, but I lie awake at night thinking of the mess that things seem to be on the surface, and how it will impact the next generations.
The political relationships between many of the worlds superpowers appear to strained at best. Compromise has become a sparse commodity whether it be in policy, environment and even basic compassion for humanity.
The youth of today have little respect for authority of any type and unfortunately it appears to be a learned condition.
They have been taught that everyone is a winner, nobody fails in school and that nobody has the right to discipline them. They are being taught by politicians in the highest positions that rules and laws don’t apply to people in power.
They receive conflicting information on global warming and what role they might play in it.
They rely on social media to provide their take on world affairs, politics and utilize digital media as their rule of measure for how one should appear or live their lives.
Even in my own home, although we try to manage screen time, it appears that my children have grown an electronic appendage.
I am certainly not suggesting that the “Boomers” or “X” had it dialled in, since after all, many of today’s issues are from seeds planted during and even before our time in the spotlight.
What I will say is that the decline of true social interaction began in the later half of the “Boomer” generation and it has gotten increasingly steeper with every passing generation or with the release of the latest cel phone.
Albert Einstein was quoted as saying “I fear the day that technology will surpass human interaction the world will have a generation of idiots.” I fear that generation is in our near horizon.
More and more of all of those crazy party pics, video journals along with their hieroglyphic emogie texts made with no consideration on how they might come back to haunt them as they apply to post secondary institutions, potential careers or God forbid, venture into public life. These moments, that at the time seemed cute or hilarious, or even, simply commonplace, could well determine where some people land in life.
I am certainly not saying that the earlier generations did not step over that line between fun and dumb, I’m just saying, thankfully, not every blunder of our “youthful” adventures were recorded for “future reference”.
At the risk of crossing the line between being just a foolish man with a dream or an outright lunatic, I would like to pose a few rhetorical questions.
Why are we still fighting in the name of religion? After centuries of the same old same old I’d like attempt to over simplify things.
Does it REALLY matter what name we put on our higher power. The point is, if our collective (meaning ALL religions) goal is to get to the “next” level, is killing each other the way to accomplish this or is it just too much to actually love your fellow man.
Christian, Muslim, Judaism…. pick a religion and I am confident that at the core of most of them is a belief in a higher power. The ultimate reward for being decent humans is to pass to “paradise” or to return here in a better enlightened position. I am certain from what could be considered my limited reading, killing your fellow man is not on the “menu” for any of these religions.
Why is race still an issue? Haven’t we learned by now, after all of the atrocities that have been committed because of the colour of someone’s skin, their nationality and of course their religion ? Racism is a self filling prophecy. They hate, we hate, etc., etc. and for what? Fear of the unknown? A simple lack of understanding and compromise?
Turn us all inside out (wow, there’s a visual for you) and we are all basically the same. We are the same, but if I hate you because of where you live, the music you listen to or the name of your religion, then as universal energy suggests, what I receive in return is the same hatred energy I project out and so on and so on….. blah blah blah.
How about a hand shake and a hello?
In closing, I guess what I envision seems as much fantasy as any science fiction movie of today. Unfortunately, there is no eccentric scientist with his Delorean to whisk me back to simpler times.
The strange Utopia that I envision would be a blend of the pre digital era, where conversations were done orally and not with our thumbs. That small town sense of security where not locking your doors wasn’t being foolish, it was because they knew and trusted their neighbours. Children played all day in the streets until the street lights came on because parents didn’t need to have them within eyesight for fear of their safety. Family owned businesses were the preferred source for everything and they knew you by name and what you liked without sending you junk mail three times a day.