The missing piece in all of this seems to be a missing civil society.
The US government has never been in the business of assigning a meaning of life to people beyond the generalized "frontier" concept talked of above. Rather, the Constitution is there to create conditions for us to find meaning together, which was done in community groups such as fraternal orders, charities, religious organizations, sports clubs, youth groups, family formation and the like. For Tocqueville this was the secret sauce in a nation as diverse as our own. Note that these are non-political groups, which allowed people to mix with others across the political spectrum.
It is membership in these groups that allows us to find a particular mission through which we can bond with each other, as well as providing a network of support and connections which can help us in our economic and social lives. My own experiences in my religious group, in Freemasonry, earning my Eagle Scout, and now volunteering with the Red Cross has brought me into contact with both "whys" and "hows".
Robert Putnam noted the decline of civil society in his Bowling Alone book, and the decline started in the 1970s, but I'd say the internet has allows us to atomize further and COVID really accelerated it (as well as our economic woes). We are "bowling alone" for sure, and this prevents us from finding connection, meaning, and mutual support, as well as made us more polarized and unable to push back against extremism or anti-American attitudes.
Excellent interview. The thoughtfulness of these two young men fill me with hope. They are far more mature than I was at their age. As one of them observed, fulfilling one’s physiological needs does not guarantee the fulfillments of higher needs in Maslow’s hierarchy. That is not a bug but a feature! How else nature evolves from the relatively primitive to the relatively complex? It requires struggles, intelligence, wisdom and, above all, a fighting spirit. Both of these young men have the spirit in them. It might take years for them to discover ways to release their spiritual energy but they are on the right track! Our time is full of challenges and opportunities. Don’t let any good problem go waste, join in and figure the art, science and spirit of it. Yes, society can be better structured to help you. However, don’t take things for granted. Look around and into history. Things could, are and have been much worse. Don’t let cynicism corrupt your soul. If Viktor Frankl could find interests and meaning in a Nazi concentration camp, what excuse do we have?
I appreciate that these young men have such thoughtful responses. I'm not sure that the future will turn out bright for America, but there are movements that give me hope. As a man of faith, I still have hope in the church. I also find hope in the Strong Towns Movement, which is working to rebuild the strength of our local communities through a culture of care, resilience, and adaptation. The Regenerative Agriculture Movement gives me hope that we can have a well-rounded food system.
Exactly, and I’d say that it actually belongs at the bottom of the hierarchy.
See the example of the extremely aesctic monastics, for example. Their pursuit of the transcendent undergirds their lives to such an extent that they live without many of their material needs being satisfied at all.
We need not all be monks in the desert, but as the Bible says, where there is no vision the people perish (or “cast off restraint,” even more tellingly).
understanding of what our founders believed in and strived for has been slowly taken out of Americas schools, Universities and the left wing Media.
There was a time when we all, as Americans had a single belief.. that we together even with our differences would always understand the Declaration of Independence and our Constitution and how thoughtful these men were in devising these magnificent piece of hard work.. with there understanding of the history of the World and all of the mistakes made.
They thought.. fought with each other until they got it right.
Our Country has always been the most generous and the very beacon of freedom that has helped the World be better.. including making our Country and its mistakes corrected.
As Reagan always said,Freedom is only one generation away.”
We are on the precipice of watching our young people not learn or understand that!!
I’m praying that somehow as these young men were explaining… that they and others of their generation would wake up and realize it’s up to them now.. to realize how unique our country is and how incredible the American people are!
I thank all of you for your interesting dialogues… and especially Bennett Gormans comments.
It seems to me that everybody is putting an awful lot of the blame on government. None of that is government's responsibility though I admit that our politicians would like for you to think otherwise. This is OUR country. WE are responsible. YOU make it happen or you don't. Wake up and smell the roses, people, they smell sweet.
And guys, get your asses out there and meet the girls. Yes, it's dangerous, it always has been but without it we do not continue. Yes, I know that we can populate without commitment but that's not fair to the kids who all need fathers and it should not be 'how the world works'.
Government increasingly replaced middle communities like churches and fraternal organization. Society became increasingly dominated by institutional directed life. Schooling in very institutionalized environments for 16 years. Last, the loss of feral kid life. Not feral in the violent sense but feral inthat prior to the 80s there were roaving bands of kids doing whatever in neighborhoods. That was a spiritual tonic to spending a big chunk of the day in school. Young people despair since online experiences dont give us time with people in person. Ultimate purpose is found through following Christ, but doing unstructured activities like hiking, wild swimming, bicycling together heals us from the morass of institutionalized existance.
The importance of a vibrant civil society is difficult to overstate.
But I would argue that today it is in the halls of Congress that an example needs to be set; a demonstration of the virtues of civil debate and discussion producing timely legislation.
Any government controlled by the judgement of a single human being, good or bad, is an authoritarian regime.
Any government controlled by a single ideology, such as market fundamentalism, is an authoritarian regime.
Whether one likes or dislikes any particular policy of the Trump administration is irrelevant. That the administration unilaterally imposes them lies at the heart of the despair felt by us all but by the young in lethal doses,
The missing piece in all of this seems to be a missing civil society.
The US government has never been in the business of assigning a meaning of life to people beyond the generalized "frontier" concept talked of above. Rather, the Constitution is there to create conditions for us to find meaning together, which was done in community groups such as fraternal orders, charities, religious organizations, sports clubs, youth groups, family formation and the like. For Tocqueville this was the secret sauce in a nation as diverse as our own. Note that these are non-political groups, which allowed people to mix with others across the political spectrum.
It is membership in these groups that allows us to find a particular mission through which we can bond with each other, as well as providing a network of support and connections which can help us in our economic and social lives. My own experiences in my religious group, in Freemasonry, earning my Eagle Scout, and now volunteering with the Red Cross has brought me into contact with both "whys" and "hows".
Robert Putnam noted the decline of civil society in his Bowling Alone book, and the decline started in the 1970s, but I'd say the internet has allows us to atomize further and COVID really accelerated it (as well as our economic woes). We are "bowling alone" for sure, and this prevents us from finding connection, meaning, and mutual support, as well as made us more polarized and unable to push back against extremism or anti-American attitudes.
Excellent interview. The thoughtfulness of these two young men fill me with hope. They are far more mature than I was at their age. As one of them observed, fulfilling one’s physiological needs does not guarantee the fulfillments of higher needs in Maslow’s hierarchy. That is not a bug but a feature! How else nature evolves from the relatively primitive to the relatively complex? It requires struggles, intelligence, wisdom and, above all, a fighting spirit. Both of these young men have the spirit in them. It might take years for them to discover ways to release their spiritual energy but they are on the right track! Our time is full of challenges and opportunities. Don’t let any good problem go waste, join in and figure the art, science and spirit of it. Yes, society can be better structured to help you. However, don’t take things for granted. Look around and into history. Things could, are and have been much worse. Don’t let cynicism corrupt your soul. If Viktor Frankl could find interests and meaning in a Nazi concentration camp, what excuse do we have?
I appreciate that these young men have such thoughtful responses. I'm not sure that the future will turn out bright for America, but there are movements that give me hope. As a man of faith, I still have hope in the church. I also find hope in the Strong Towns Movement, which is working to rebuild the strength of our local communities through a culture of care, resilience, and adaptation. The Regenerative Agriculture Movement gives me hope that we can have a well-rounded food system.
Don't forget the highest level on Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs was transcendence.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maslow%27s_hierarchy_of_needs#Transcendence_needs
Exactly, and I’d say that it actually belongs at the bottom of the hierarchy.
See the example of the extremely aesctic monastics, for example. Their pursuit of the transcendent undergirds their lives to such an extent that they live without many of their material needs being satisfied at all.
We need not all be monks in the desert, but as the Bible says, where there is no vision the people perish (or “cast off restraint,” even more tellingly).
A United American
understanding of what our founders believed in and strived for has been slowly taken out of Americas schools, Universities and the left wing Media.
There was a time when we all, as Americans had a single belief.. that we together even with our differences would always understand the Declaration of Independence and our Constitution and how thoughtful these men were in devising these magnificent piece of hard work.. with there understanding of the history of the World and all of the mistakes made.
They thought.. fought with each other until they got it right.
Our Country has always been the most generous and the very beacon of freedom that has helped the World be better.. including making our Country and its mistakes corrected.
As Reagan always said,Freedom is only one generation away.”
We are on the precipice of watching our young people not learn or understand that!!
I’m praying that somehow as these young men were explaining… that they and others of their generation would wake up and realize it’s up to them now.. to realize how unique our country is and how incredible the American people are!
I thank all of you for your interesting dialogues… and especially Bennett Gormans comments.
God Bless our nation.. it’s worth fighting for!!
It seems to me that everybody is putting an awful lot of the blame on government. None of that is government's responsibility though I admit that our politicians would like for you to think otherwise. This is OUR country. WE are responsible. YOU make it happen or you don't. Wake up and smell the roses, people, they smell sweet.
And guys, get your asses out there and meet the girls. Yes, it's dangerous, it always has been but without it we do not continue. Yes, I know that we can populate without commitment but that's not fair to the kids who all need fathers and it should not be 'how the world works'.
Government increasingly replaced middle communities like churches and fraternal organization. Society became increasingly dominated by institutional directed life. Schooling in very institutionalized environments for 16 years. Last, the loss of feral kid life. Not feral in the violent sense but feral inthat prior to the 80s there were roaving bands of kids doing whatever in neighborhoods. That was a spiritual tonic to spending a big chunk of the day in school. Young people despair since online experiences dont give us time with people in person. Ultimate purpose is found through following Christ, but doing unstructured activities like hiking, wild swimming, bicycling together heals us from the morass of institutionalized existance.
The importance of a vibrant civil society is difficult to overstate.
But I would argue that today it is in the halls of Congress that an example needs to be set; a demonstration of the virtues of civil debate and discussion producing timely legislation.
Any government controlled by the judgement of a single human being, good or bad, is an authoritarian regime.
Any government controlled by a single ideology, such as market fundamentalism, is an authoritarian regime.
Whether one likes or dislikes any particular policy of the Trump administration is irrelevant. That the administration unilaterally imposes them lies at the heart of the despair felt by us all but by the young in lethal doses,
https://yansong.substack.com/p/faith-and-meaning-in-the-age-of-artificial?r=o1gg5&utm_medium=ios