RETREAT FROM ADULTHOOD
James R. Fisher, Jr., Ph.D.
© June 18, 2011
This is to alert my readers that I have stumbled on what I think makes sense of the last forty years or since 1970. We have made a systematic but unconscious retreat from adulthood with all the fads and fantasies, all the new binges, and yes, the wild success of such things as the Internet and FaceBook. These appear to be manifestations of this retreat. Small wonder that children largely created them.
The plight of Congressman Anthony Weir is not the exception to this thesis, but the rule. No, I don't think he should have resigned because what he did at least a few million others are doing on a regular basis, as the mind of the adult is warped to the juvenile, and cannot seem to escape it.
Why? Because that is the morality of the times. This doesn't make it right (or wrong) but simply a reflection of that mind.
In 1970, when my oldest child told me one day, “Dad, I don’t want to ever be an adult.” He proved his words, and has been a very successful man never having to become one. He is not the exception but the rule.
These essays will be short – less than five hundred words – as people don’t read today. Less than one-tenth of one-percent purchase books on a regular basis. Only about 100,000 citizens out of 300 million spend as much as $1,000 a year in reading materials.
Books are not only windows to the soul, but manifestations of the soul itself, as we think in words.
Stay tuned.
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I wonder, is this retreat from adulthood really about morality? Or, is it related to a basic confusion about the nature of "individualism"; about what constitutes a valid expression of "individuality"? I further wonder, are people confused or have they been misled, conditioned perhaps, for generations? It could be argued that the original concept of 'invidualism' has been hijacked, on purpose. As individuals, our legitimate role in a democratic society is supposed to be actively engaged citizens. No question, as you observe Dr. Fisher, the citizens are now distracted with toys and foolish indulgences. I might suggest this is the natural result of human values being subordinated to "economics" along with an all-out-war on the PUBLIC INTEREST. "To consume is to act as a good citizen"; that is the consistent message we hear.
ReplyDeleteThank you. I couldn't say it better.
ReplyDeleteJRF
You're very kind Dr. Fisher. I know quite well; you would have said it better. =)
ReplyDelete