Like almost everyone else, I was a bit shocked by the political rise of Trump. But not just for some of the reasons that many people felt, like he was ushering in a new era which would end American democracy and usher in a de facto dictatorship, although that obviously is one of the things which we all worried about, and which we sure seem to be seeing come to fruition now.
No, it felt like there was something even deeper, more serious.
More permanent.
When an advanced nation turns to someone like Trump and joins him in blatantly disregarding truth and facts and civility and democracy and education and common decency, the descent feels more serious than the mere political consequences.
Frankly, it feels often more like an attack on civilization itself, at least the best aspects of it.
Now don't get me wrong: there is a lot about our American society which fell short of ideal, let alone perfect, and which I ached to change. But simply disregarding norms and traditions and expressing cynicism with careful analysis and intelligence, and in fact bending over backwards to reject intelligence, which is more and more frequently being targeted as being "elitist" is just going too far.
It feels like our society is not only growing more stupid, frankly, but is growing more militantly stupid, and proud of it.
In short, it feels like we are throwing out the baby with the bath water. Without exaggerating, it seems like we might just be entering a new Dark Ages for modern times.
No, I am not trying to be sensationalist. I mean it.
Seriously, look at what we are doing on a daily basis. Look at what most people use the internet for.
It's insanity.
What is more alarming is that all of this has happened with stunning speed. It seemed like just in my own childhood, there was an expectation that things would get better. Certainly, my generation - Generation X - was expected to enjoy a higher standard of living than our parents.
That trend has reversed itself. And those good feelings which we seemed to share at the time now feel almost like mockery when faced with the harsher realities that we face today. There are more people than ever before, and they are competing for fewer quality job with good pay. Benefits seem to be going out the window.
In short, it's a scary world. And it seems like more and more people are retreating into distractions and, let's face it, idiocy. Not for nothing the saying ignorance is bliss. Some of the people who are the most ecstatic about the state of the world right now are, frankly, the dumbest people around. People who clearly do not prize facts or truth or education, truth be told.
Ran into this video some weeks ago, but never did quite get around to publishing this blog entry, with this video included.
Take a look and see if he doesn't make some valid points about where we are, and if all of what we are seeing does not mark a significant descent over time (and not that much time, for that matter):
Is Trump Bringing In The New Dark Ages?
No comments:
Post a Comment