“Old School” is Not a Style; It is a Way to Live

I am a member of the “Boomer” demographic.  That term means a lot of different things to a lot of different people.  One of the things a lot people associate with the term is an “old school” way of living and looking at life.  I want to talk a bit about old school…because I am a true believer in that segment of our population.  I am old school and proud of it.  I may be insufficiently self-aware, but I do realize that in this case, deniability is pointless.   I am what I am.  I would love for my children and grandchildren to continue that philosophy.  I think the world could use some more “old school”.

 

As I mentioned in the title, old school is not really just a descriptive term; it is a way of life.  It is a noun.  It defines not only how we think or emote.  When combined with our faith, it is set of principles that guides the way we live.  It is a code of behavior in which we feel comfortable and through our actions in careers and family, we try to live in a way that not only reflects that thinking, but actually honors that thinking.

 

If we are going to have this discussion, I suppose it is useful to try and define exactly what old school means.  Let me take a stab at that.

 

·        Old school demands that if you are able, you have a job and work for a living.  It demands that you show up for work on time; which is at least 5 to 10 minutes before your scheduled start time.  It means that you work until quitting time; not 30 minutes before quitting time where you take the last half hour to get ready to quit for the day.  It means that if you are paid for 8 or 10 hours of work for the day, then you deliver 8 or 10 hours of work.  Whatever your lunch break is, you factor that into the goal of delivering that full portion of work for the full portion of pay.  It simply means that you appreciate the opportunity that your job presents and you honor that opportunity by doing what you are being paid to do.  If you are not satisfied with your job, you look for another one.  You stay with what you have until you find another one and then, if you are moving on, you give your current employer a reasonable notice as consideration for having had you as an employee.  You do this because you need…and want…a paycheck.  You take pride in your self-sufficiency and your independence…and you celebrate your freedom.

·        Old school demands that you pay your debts.  If you are applying old school principles, you are as much concerned with equity as you are with cash flow.  You read the fine print, you research the terms of a loan, you realistically consider the wisdom of the debt, and then you make damn sure you are able and willing to make the payments.  If that repayment requires sacrifice, then you are ready to make the sacrifice.  Payment of debts is a matter of honor and character.  You balance the notions of wants and needs when you make the commitment and you understand the trade-off of giving up something today for the gains of the future.  Your retirement is something that you provide for yourself; not something that is gifted to you.  The old school goal is not to have a bunch of things at your disposal to use; it is to own a bunch of things that you need or desire.  The goal is to be a loaner; not a borrower.  The primary question you consider when facing the financial obligation of debt is not your ability to make the monthly payment; even though that is certainly part of the equation.  The larger question is “how long will it take me to pay this debt and what conditions will exist when the debt is satisfied”.  If I am committing to 5 years of car payments and the car is used up after 3…then how does that make sense?  If I am settled in a job and a location and I am making rent payments every month that are equal to or exceed a house payment plus home ownership costs…then why not buy and own a home rather than pay for someone else’s? 

·        Old school considers education as an obligation of the individual.  It is incumbent upon each of us to gain the ability to provide for ourselves and our families, and that requires a sound, fundamental education.  Where we go from there is up to the individual and their ambitions.  Some consider education a chore while others consider education a challenge and privilege.  Either way, it is a necessity for life and is an obligation of each individual citizen to accomplish for themselves.  The people who offer that education…academia and all it encompasses from kindergarten through advanced and specialized degrees…are in turn obligated to deliver the education for which they are paid.  In “K through 12” public schools, that means the obligation is to the student and the parents who finance that education through their tax dollars at the local level.  It means teaching the fundamental tenants of the skills needed to function as a successful citizen.  It does not mean advocating for certain ideas or philosophies.  It does not mean substituting teachers for parents.  It does not mean trying to shape a student’s view of the world in a social or personal sense based on the teacher’s beliefs.  It simply means doing the job you are paid to do in an open and sincere fashion; teaching the fundamental principles of reading, writing, and arithmetic while practically blending in the new and evolving technical skills and abilities necessary for young adults in today’s world.   It means telling the whole truth in an unvarnished fashion.  For “post high school education”, it means delivering what you promise.  It means being clear and transparent about how much it costs, what the education will consist of, and how that education might benefit the student.  Is the benefit practical in that it will deliver more in future earnings and employment opportunities than the cost of the education?  Is it simply an exercise in expanding the student’s knowledge and universe and will not really translate to future success in employment?  In other words, is it a “ways to a means” or is it simply “more education for the sake of education”?  Both of these purposes have value; but the essential element here is understanding the value before committing to the process.  Education beyond high school requires that you know who and what is doing the teaching, how that teaching will pay off in your future, and is that education worth what it will cost you.  And of course…can you afford it?

·        Old school means that while being true to yourself and what you believe, you do not make a spectacle of those beliefs through your actions and behavior.  Rather, you understand that your actions and your behavior are the true test of your character and worth.  Quiet strength is admired; public displays are abhorred.  You acknowledge the fact that there is a greater authority than that of government and law and that some things are best left to that consideration.  You be who you are, but you don’t shove it in everyone’s face.  You may believe that life is precious, even in the womb, but you appreciate that there are conditions such as rape or incest that demand a greater understanding of the choices we make.  You might believe that the commission of certain crimes justifiably requires the forfeiture of one’s life on this earth; but you also factor in the reality that our justice system is imperfect and that true justice is not always the end result of the process.  It means that you live your life according to the rules of God, the rules of the government, and the rules of common decency and consideration.  And while you are living under those rules, you leave room for the fact that there is a reasonable space within those rules that must allow other people to have different ideas about how they should be interpreted.  It means…that while being ourselves, we leave plenty of room for others to be themselves.  Like the plaque in our kitchen reads… “God, Family, Country”.

·        Old school demands that you keep score and you keep score for a reason.  Any process that breeds mediocrity and submission to the norm is one that suppresses individual accomplishment and ambition…and that is wrong.  We should not hold some folks back for the benefit of those who strive for less.  While reaching down to help bring up those among us who face challenges beyond their control, we must embrace and encourage those among us who choose to pursue greater accomplishment and greater goals.  It means excellence and achievement should be recognized and rewards should be commensurate with that accomplishment.  It means we are accountable for our actions and that we have the integrity to admit mistakes that we make.  It means that we accept the consequences of our actions and realize that others too will make mistakes and those mistakes must be forgiven. At the end of the day…it means that living right is hard to do, we are all going to stumble along the way, and that we must forgive if we expect to be forgiven.  We should all be very cautious in our certitude.

·        Old school means that you understand the true vastness and wonder of the universe; that we are each but a speck of dust in that never-ending expanse.  It means that the nature around us is far too wondrous to write down to happenstance; that there is a source and a reason to this world.  You can call it whatever you wish, but an honest look around you is a clear reminder of your insignificance and should be an anchor for your humility.  Whether you stand on an empty beach and stare out over the ocean; walk through an old-growth forest and look all around you…including up; pause in the wide-open spaces of the west and marvel at the fantastic landscapes; or just be still for a moment and consider how much you have received versus how much you have given…. all of these things tell you that the world around us is far too perfect to be accidental.  Look into the face of a new child.  Look deeply into the eyes of a horse.  Watch you grandchildren playing with abandon and laughter.  Feel the rain fall from the sky and the earth between your fingers.  Life is a gift…a precious gift.  It is not ours to take, nor to give…but to cherish and honor with our lives.  As with life, this world is also a gift and we are but stewards upon it.  Our arrogance might lead us to think that we somehow control this earth with our actions, but that is not right.  Of course, we impact the environment with our behavior and have every reason to respect it and maintain it.  But we are not the sole proprietors of our environment and we must understand that there are forces far greater than us at work.  They were here long before us and they will be here long after us.

·        Old school demands that every individual has God-given rights to freedom and dignity.  Each person should be presented with equal opportunity to achieve and improve their quality of life.  Having said that, the amount of respect that a person receives is commensurate with the amount of respect a person earns.  Simple decency requires equal treatment for all; whether it be justice, employment, education, or simple social interaction.  But respect is not a commodity to be equitably distributed.  What each of us does with our own equal opportunity and treatment is entirely up to us.  We reap what we sow.  Old school recognizes that while some past transgressions might be corrected, there are some wrongs that just cannot be righted.  There are times when we must simply acknowledge guilt and error, change things in hopes of preventing those same mistakes from reoccurring, and move on to the future.  It is tricky business determining what can and cannot be fixed…and perhaps even trickier determining exactly how to fix it.  But people of good faith and character can come together and understand that the future is far more important than the past.

·        Old school is wary of government.  This nation has a blueprint for government and it is our Constitution.  It is a brilliant and eternal document whose relevance is timeless.  It makes provision for itself to be amended and allows for a type of evolution to accommodate the inevitable changes in nation and people.  It does not provide a pencil and eraser to be used in the deletion of chosen passages and the alteration of existing language.  It’s evolution capacity lies in the amendment process; not in some expansive, cherry-picking interpretation of its content.  Government was meant to do the things for us that we somehow cannot do for ourselves; a vehicle to make us greater as a nation than we are as individuals.  It was never intended to supplant us as parents or to tell us how to think.  It was never intended to take more of our earnings than we can keep for ourselves.  While requiring us to maintain civil behavior within the law, it was never intended to tell us how to behave.  We are citizens; we are not sheep.  Our lives and the joys therein belong to us; not to our elected officials.  The explosive expansion of government is an abomination of our Constitution and it is way past time that it should be reined in. 

·        Our country was born not solely of itself, but through the support of other nations that aided and abetted our revolution.  It behooves us as a people to keep that fact in mind.  There are many in the world who are suffering under the same conditions that led our founders to their declaration of independence.  While there are certainly circumstances where the reckless ambitions and cruelty of some merit the intrusion of American resources…even our precious youth, those times are few and far between and must be approached with resolute clarity, transparency, reluctance, and obvious majority support.  Barring an attack of extreme barbarity or craven heinousness, we cannot fight their fights.  What we can do is help to enable them to fight for themselves.  We can supply the same support that made our nation possible.  Far too often in our history, the precious blood of our young men and women has been shed on foreign lands for reasons that were never clearly understood.  Our elected officials have been far too cavalier in their rush to foreign conflicts.    Also, while reflecting on our birth as a country, we must never forget that we are a nation of immigrants and we should never deny that gift to others who seek asylum within our borders.  However, borders exist for a reason and those who join America should do so legally, responsibly, and with a sincere willingness to live as other American citizens do.

·        And while this piece will certainly not address all the aspects of old school thinking, I would be remiss in leaving this one out.  Old school demands that we appreciate, acknowledge, and respect those men and women who do the work that is necessary for everyone else to live their lives in peace, safety, and fulfillment.  I’m talking about the builders…the carpenters, the electricians, the plumbers, the masons, the steel-workers, the railroaders, the heavy equipment operators, the truckers…the ones who we take for granted just as we take for granted the mechanisms they maintain.  I’m talking about the front-line defenders of law and freedom…the police, the fire departments, emergency personnel of all types.  These folks literally put their lives on the line every day so that we can go about our daily routines.  I’m talking about all the military veterans, both past and present…the men and women who have given all they had (and have) and made the ultimate sacrifice so that our nation might continue and we might enjoy the liberties we now possess.  I’m talking about the quiet heroes…the single mothers and fathers, the resource-limited, the elderly living alone, the people living in the shadows…the ones who fight every single day simply to survive until the next.  I’m talking about this nation’s farmers…the men and women who feed this country and many others across the planet.  The ones who go to work before sunrise and quit after dark; who borrow money on the wings and a prayer of a good season and reasonable weather; who go into crippling debt on the hope of a good yield and good prices; who live a life of underappreciated hard work, brutal physical demands, and overwhelming emotional challenges…mainly because they love what they are doing and know that someone, somehow must step into that breach.  All of these folks…from every fundamental vocation and walk of life…provide for others the opportunities to prosper and thrive.  They create the space for the bureaucrats, the bankers, the tech industry, the factories, and the administrators to work and produce.  The fruits of their labor make it possible for the rest of us to enjoy the fruits of our labor.  There is honor to be found in every profession.  We are, each and every one of us, a thread in the great American fabric.  We are woven together in a tapestry that binds us as one. 

·        Speaking of the farmers, there is no one on this planet “greener” than they are.  When your very survival and subsistence depends on the land, you cherish it, nurture it, and respect it.  People need to realize that there are far more insecticides and pesticides flowing into our ground waters from urban America than there are from rural America.  Old school folks sometimes border on a hoarder philosophy, because old school folks believe in using something up until it is worn out.  We have become a disposable society and culture, but old school values the common-sense philosophy of maintenance and repair.  Old school folks are the original recyclers.   We take care of what we’ve got and if at all possible, we fix it when it breaks down.  We don’t throw it away because it develops a minor glitch or is no longer the “flavor du jour”.  In fact, most old school folks will have a closet, garage, shed, barn, or shop full of worn-out stuff that might…just might…have a piece or two that could come in handy down the road.   Old school folks are uncommonly aggravated by today’s manufacturing tendency to create products that are designed to be thrown away when they stop working.  We like to seek out those items that are quality-made, supported by a reputable manufacturer, have replacement parts available, and can be readily repaired. And…we don’t mind a paying a bit extra for them.

·        Old school treasures family.  Blood is stronger than any rope, chain, or legal obligation.  We may fall out with our kin.  We may battle with our kin.  We may even walk away from our kin.  But at the end of the line…they remain our kin.  We are not always the fathers, mothers, brothers, and sisters that we should be; but we inwardly realize when we are falling short and bear the shame of that failure.  Old school knows that a child has a father and a mother and both have an obligation to that child that exceeds even their obligation to each other.  Old school acknowledges that walking away from that obligation is one of the most despicable acts of humanity.  Old school requires that all parents should strive to leave more to their children than they had left to them.  And most of all….old school mandates that no matter how far astray their child my wander, a parent will always forgive.

 

To me, this is some of what old school is all about.  Some might call it old-fashioned.  Some might call it backward and regressive.   Some might call it outdated and small-minded.  We’ve been told we are deplorables and that we cling to our guns or religion.  Heck…some might even call it red-neck.  But here are the things people must understand about old school folks:  We don’t really care what you think about us.  We respect your right to think that way…it just doesn’t really matter too much to us.  As long as you stay out of our face, respect our rights, judge us on our actions, and understand that government is by the people and for the people…well, we can be the best friends you ever had.  And trust me on this…if you ever have to crawl into a foxhole during a conflict, you want to be in one occupied by an old school individual.