The great divide. We have all heard of that, at least those of us that went to school in the 50's and sixties. I can't say what they taught after that. But anyway, the great divide is that range of mountains that separate the east of the country from the west. That is a fairly basic description anyway. The rivers on the east draining into the Atlantic ocean or the gulf of Mexico. The rivers in the west draining in to the Pacific ocean. You can't have a river running uphill you know so it is a simple concept to understand. That mountainous area does form a boundary of sorts, although man long ago overcame it. Still I was thinking about the great divide this morning, just not the mountain one. I was thinking that it is technology that has been causing the great divide lately. The division is between one generation and the next.
I was thinking about that after writing my story about visiting. Visiting was really all about personal interactions. We did have to be in the physical presence of others to truly communicate with them. Sure, we had the telephone and we could write letters but that was about it. Telephones were not such a reliable technology. The person may not answer the call and it go unknown. Letter writing was a popular method over long distances but was far from immediate ! Remember making a " long distance " call ? I remember having to talk to a special operator to do that. Then you could ask for time and charges. It had best be something important. That is just one example of what I'm thinking about. Today the kids carry a phone in their pocket or on their wrist. Dick Tracy hasn't got a thing on us today.
I was thinking that technology is causing a separation from one generation to the next. Back in the old days, and that is how we think of that, children learned from their parents and siblings. Oh, I know they went to school to learn the three r's and all that but I'm talking about learning other stuff. The stuff we call " life skills " today. We learned how to be social and live in a society. Fact is we were taught that society was more important than our own feelings. One did not buck the system at every turn. It was a persons standing in the society that mattered the most, not their personal opinion of themselves. We call that by different names these days, back in the old days we called it vanity. In recent times technology has intervened in that dynamic. Now it is all about us, personally ! That is all you hear, it is my right ! You don't hear that is what is required for the greater good, you hear, I deserve this or that, it is my right.
I am often accused of being shallow in my thinking. I do believe some things are as simple as black and white. There is right and wrong. The moral standard for a person and a nation should not be an ambiguous thing. Ambiguity leads to chaos. That is exactly what we have going on now. Our technology has driven a wedge between the generations. That wedge is a lack of personal interaction. With that separation moral behaviors have been altered. Moral behavior is, after all, just what is accepted in the society. Religion, or a lack of it may justify that morality. Morals are subject to change. It is just that the changes happened much slower and over longer periods of time. Our technology is driving that shift in morality at an ever increasing pace. The reason ? I would say morality is lagging behind commerce, becoming a hindrance to the same, hence the abandonment of those traditional values.
We are seeing a big divide right now in our nation. It does involve several generations. And what is the big struggle ? I would say it is over moral issues. All the hot button topics can be distilled in that fashion. Those advocating for more traditional values are being labeled as " phobics ". What is a phobia ? A fear of something. That fear is irrational or unfounded. That is what you will hear from those that dismiss whatever action they wish to promote. But how to determine a phobia from a reasoned response ? That is where the problem lies. One doesn't have to be afraid to know that something is wrong or harmful. It seems to me we have a lot of folks " reasoning " that any adherence to traditional values are a phobia ! Well that is one way to validate your choices I suppose, feign ignorance of the problem altogether, just dismiss it as an irrational fear. It is certainly easier than assuming personal responsibility. It is the comfortable path. This is especially true when we can claim adherence to those traditional morals and use them as the means to change them ! That is the beautiful deception isn't it ? Ambiguous morality, what a concept. Really it is just saying, do whatever you like, there is no right or wrong. As long as the majority are in agreement there is no right or wrong ! Well I don't believe that to be the case at all. Remember when you were a kid and did something stupid ? Your parents would say why did you do that ? Your answer may be " everybody else was doing it. " Did that make it right ? Think about that. It was often uncomfortable to do the right thing but we were taught just that. Just what are we teaching future generations now ? Just do whatever feels good ?
I was thinking about that after writing my story about visiting. Visiting was really all about personal interactions. We did have to be in the physical presence of others to truly communicate with them. Sure, we had the telephone and we could write letters but that was about it. Telephones were not such a reliable technology. The person may not answer the call and it go unknown. Letter writing was a popular method over long distances but was far from immediate ! Remember making a " long distance " call ? I remember having to talk to a special operator to do that. Then you could ask for time and charges. It had best be something important. That is just one example of what I'm thinking about. Today the kids carry a phone in their pocket or on their wrist. Dick Tracy hasn't got a thing on us today.
I was thinking that technology is causing a separation from one generation to the next. Back in the old days, and that is how we think of that, children learned from their parents and siblings. Oh, I know they went to school to learn the three r's and all that but I'm talking about learning other stuff. The stuff we call " life skills " today. We learned how to be social and live in a society. Fact is we were taught that society was more important than our own feelings. One did not buck the system at every turn. It was a persons standing in the society that mattered the most, not their personal opinion of themselves. We call that by different names these days, back in the old days we called it vanity. In recent times technology has intervened in that dynamic. Now it is all about us, personally ! That is all you hear, it is my right ! You don't hear that is what is required for the greater good, you hear, I deserve this or that, it is my right.
I am often accused of being shallow in my thinking. I do believe some things are as simple as black and white. There is right and wrong. The moral standard for a person and a nation should not be an ambiguous thing. Ambiguity leads to chaos. That is exactly what we have going on now. Our technology has driven a wedge between the generations. That wedge is a lack of personal interaction. With that separation moral behaviors have been altered. Moral behavior is, after all, just what is accepted in the society. Religion, or a lack of it may justify that morality. Morals are subject to change. It is just that the changes happened much slower and over longer periods of time. Our technology is driving that shift in morality at an ever increasing pace. The reason ? I would say morality is lagging behind commerce, becoming a hindrance to the same, hence the abandonment of those traditional values.
We are seeing a big divide right now in our nation. It does involve several generations. And what is the big struggle ? I would say it is over moral issues. All the hot button topics can be distilled in that fashion. Those advocating for more traditional values are being labeled as " phobics ". What is a phobia ? A fear of something. That fear is irrational or unfounded. That is what you will hear from those that dismiss whatever action they wish to promote. But how to determine a phobia from a reasoned response ? That is where the problem lies. One doesn't have to be afraid to know that something is wrong or harmful. It seems to me we have a lot of folks " reasoning " that any adherence to traditional values are a phobia ! Well that is one way to validate your choices I suppose, feign ignorance of the problem altogether, just dismiss it as an irrational fear. It is certainly easier than assuming personal responsibility. It is the comfortable path. This is especially true when we can claim adherence to those traditional morals and use them as the means to change them ! That is the beautiful deception isn't it ? Ambiguous morality, what a concept. Really it is just saying, do whatever you like, there is no right or wrong. As long as the majority are in agreement there is no right or wrong ! Well I don't believe that to be the case at all. Remember when you were a kid and did something stupid ? Your parents would say why did you do that ? Your answer may be " everybody else was doing it. " Did that make it right ? Think about that. It was often uncomfortable to do the right thing but we were taught just that. Just what are we teaching future generations now ? Just do whatever feels good ?
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