When We Lose Touch With Our Past.

When We Lose Touch With Our Past.  These days, as I ease into my retirement years, I marvel at how truly removed I feel from the mainstream.  Most of the time, I simply chalk it up to being old school and enjoying the limited grace of longevity that allows one a minimum amount of changing with the times; I take full advantage of that grace.  At some point in the mid-90s, I began to sense that the equilibrium of my conventional thinking was tilting a bit.  I don’t mean to imply that the culture and the society suddenly began adhering to a new moral and ethical code at that time; it’s just that I began to somehow sense a subtle and creeping change in the world around me and it has now come full circle to, as Emmylou Harris so eloquently sings, a slow surprise.  

Since the dawn of time, evolution has been a constant.  The inevitability of change and the unpredictable nature of that change has been one of the few certainties in this world.  But no matter how much time we might devote to the study of history, our perspectives are most perfectly framed within the years of our lifetimes.  And even though it is quite possible that the beginning shift that I detected in the 90s was simply a product of me paying more attention to the world around me, I do believe it was also the beginning of a larger and more significant change; a change that we now witness coming to a much fuller stage of fruition.

Once President Bill Clinton decided that he could absorb the perjury hit and keep his political career intact, the toe was in the water.  From that day forward, and unlike what we witnessed in the Watergate struggles, neither political side has been willing to cross the centerline to stand with the other.  It is win at all cost, the end justifies the means, truth is only what we acknowledge, and the only power that matters is the power that is maintained.   Republicans and Democrats have, since that time, been racing to the bottom of the ethical and moral ladder to keep the power they possess and steal away whatever they might from their philosophical opponents.  Having spent his entire political career (which happens to be his only career) applying and perfecting these techniques, our current president has dramatically accelerated the drift of this trend and has changed its apparent characteristics from subtleties and nuance to naked ambition and blatant shamelessness; his Republican counterparts have been all too willing to ratchet up (or down) their standards in an effort to keep pace. 

Where arrogance and excessive pride used to be largely condemned as unseemly, they are now noted as admirable and considered useful tools in the pursuit of an appropriate agenda.  Statesmanship is derided as radicalism, humility is viewed as weakness, and one in public life is simply foolish to behave in a civil manner and expect commensurate conduct from their political opponents.  Unfortunately, this sloughing off of acceptable standards has permeated our culture.  Perhaps it is largely a product of the technological explosion that has enveloped the planet.  The world is shrunken; we live in a time of instant communication and sound bites.  Sensationalism has supplanted reason and research as debate’s winning points. 

To me, the phenomenon of Donald Trump fits perfectly in this trend’s maturation.  Now you might disagree with my dim view of Mr. Trump, but anyone who has been paying attention at all must concede that he is indeed a phenomenon.  Is it conceivable that his ascendancy, such as it is, could have occurred prior to Bill Clinton?  And yet today, many of us seem to simply stand with dumbstruck awe on our faces and acknowledge the fact of a TV reality show star on the cusp of a national political party nomination.    Sure, we had the Terminator in California; but that was California.  We had Wrestlemania in the Governor’s mansion up in Minnesota, but most every state in the union has had a character or two in their statehouse.    It is apparently now normal to conceive of a Socialist being President of our nation or putting the Apprentice Mastermind in charge of our national security and nuclear arsenal.  Any semblance of presidential qualification seems to have gone out the window with the One and obviously, we haven’t learned much from that episode. 

Professional sport is in many respects a microcosm of our culture.  Bryce Harper contends that major league baseball should simply toss aside the etiquette that has existed for generations in exchange for a more exciting and fan friendly demonstration of personal celebration.  Maybe he is right; maybe his vision is more attuned to our current culture than many of us think.  The Houston Texans pay out their arse for an unproven backup quarterback from Denver to marshal their pro football team into the future.  Are they nuts or are simply spending the money that is available to them (from obscene profits) in a high stakes game of guess who’s going to blow up or who’s going to implode?  Fans now fill out numerous NCAA basketball tournament brackets and then simply talk about the one that turns out to be the most accurate.  The King talks of assembling a cast of superstar buds as his present team prepares for a playoff run amidst internal turmoil.  The premier players in all avenues of sport have become larger than the sport itself. 

By any definition, this is reason turned on its head.  It strikes me that over past decades, the best evolution has been that which is reasoned, deliberate, and supported by a clear majority of the people.  Fame and success in all walks of life can now occur overnight and apparently has the equal value of that which is earned over a decades-long career of paying dues and accomplishment.  Entire economies are based on making next month’s payments without consideration to debt or equity.   A large portion of our future is growing up without caring parents and entire generations are being willingly, and unwillingly, confined to a lifetime of governmental dependency.  Irrational exuberance has replaced studied analysis and investment; the immediate gratification of binge-watching has turned us into flat screen zombies instead of weekly viewers; and rhetorical performance has basically overshadowed any consideration of established records and truths.

In such a context, how in heavens can anyone be expected to look into the future with any degree of accuracy?    When the fundamental lessons and principles upon which our lives are based turn to sand and crumble beneath our feet, how do we adjust overnight to that new-found feeling of floating in space with no moorings?  Many cling to their faith and have that to give them direction and purpose; but many have no faith in their lives and are simply going through the motions.  To point…none of this is to imply that the world and our country is becoming worse; that is a very subjective term and likely one that only history is qualified to judge.  Life unfolds as it should; the rules are made and revised by the majority of those who must abide by them.  But there can be little doubt that as our ilk has evolved throughout the ages and the generations, we have cast off many things that were considered ill-conceived and have perpetuated many things considered to be of eternal benefit.  We have always seemed to somehow kick the can down the road a piece for our children and the future.  For one that is so obviously out of touch as me, it certainly seems that these days, we are discarding a much larger amount of the eternal benefit stuff and clinging rather tenaciously to the ill conceptions.  We’re throwing some stuff away that we’re gonna wish we had kept.