Dr. Dotson, always like to see you post. Boomers were raised with shame but also a lot of flex. Respect for elders and authority was there; we had to unlearn it as the corruption of My Lai, Watergate and
the obvious wrongness of reefer madness became evident. Respect for institutions was a given, and I find that much of my outrage about Trumpism is the random destruction of institutions of all flavors. I think the idea that govt and institutions SHOULD work for the public benefit may no longer be an automatic thought of anyone under 40, but it should be. Institutions and those who run them should be respected and there should be serious penalties for institutional leaders who cause damage. Conservatives love talking about accountability and personal reponsibility, but somehow accountability is inversely proportional to wealth and social status, which is completely bass ackwards. It's fashionable to blame hippies for excessive focus on individuality over group responsibility, but the historical view is that greed and fascism was always lurking, and it's come roaring back. Unitarians believe in the inherent worth and dignity of every human, but we also believe in democratic processes. We don't talk about sin but if I had to define it, fascism is definitely a sin. Trump belongs in jail as does Steven (Goebbels) Miller. UUs don't list greed explicitly as a sin, but we do revere "the interdependent web of existence", which suggests that a politician, banker, or oil exec who is knowingly disrupting the environment is worthy of shame and censure. Greed impacts the environment and quality of life for the rest of us, so shame is fine there too. Cowardice is also a sin; looking at you Congress, law firms, media execs.
Back to your kids. Encouraging compassion, is great, but wimpiness isn't. It's just fine to smack a bully, even if it results in time with the principal. It's also important to challenge authority that isn't acting responsibly. Maybe Trump was damaged as a small child, but he went bad; he's Voldemort. Prison, and confiscation of all assets gained since becoming president would be a measure of justice.
Thanks for the comment! I think those sentiments were what Rosenfeld's provoked in me, that there's more to a society than a few protocols of interaction with a dollop of self reflection. There's a range of qualities that make up what an image of a honorable person that we ought to aspire to and hold others to.
The fact that I just saw a practicing lawyer on Substack refer to a prominent science journalist as a "smooth brained boy", just because of his disagreement, makes me worried that Rosenfeld's worry is correct, that we're letting standards slide, and that the shameless of social media is quickly becoming the background radiation of far too many people's intellectual lives.
Taylor, check out my "resources for patriots" on my academic website. https://kestrel.nmt.edu/~rsonnenf/ Inspired by Heather Cox Richardsons jan 9 post.
Dr. Dotson, always like to see you post. Boomers were raised with shame but also a lot of flex. Respect for elders and authority was there; we had to unlearn it as the corruption of My Lai, Watergate and
the obvious wrongness of reefer madness became evident. Respect for institutions was a given, and I find that much of my outrage about Trumpism is the random destruction of institutions of all flavors. I think the idea that govt and institutions SHOULD work for the public benefit may no longer be an automatic thought of anyone under 40, but it should be. Institutions and those who run them should be respected and there should be serious penalties for institutional leaders who cause damage. Conservatives love talking about accountability and personal reponsibility, but somehow accountability is inversely proportional to wealth and social status, which is completely bass ackwards. It's fashionable to blame hippies for excessive focus on individuality over group responsibility, but the historical view is that greed and fascism was always lurking, and it's come roaring back. Unitarians believe in the inherent worth and dignity of every human, but we also believe in democratic processes. We don't talk about sin but if I had to define it, fascism is definitely a sin. Trump belongs in jail as does Steven (Goebbels) Miller. UUs don't list greed explicitly as a sin, but we do revere "the interdependent web of existence", which suggests that a politician, banker, or oil exec who is knowingly disrupting the environment is worthy of shame and censure. Greed impacts the environment and quality of life for the rest of us, so shame is fine there too. Cowardice is also a sin; looking at you Congress, law firms, media execs.
Back to your kids. Encouraging compassion, is great, but wimpiness isn't. It's just fine to smack a bully, even if it results in time with the principal. It's also important to challenge authority that isn't acting responsibly. Maybe Trump was damaged as a small child, but he went bad; he's Voldemort. Prison, and confiscation of all assets gained since becoming president would be a measure of justice.
Thanks for the comment! I think those sentiments were what Rosenfeld's provoked in me, that there's more to a society than a few protocols of interaction with a dollop of self reflection. There's a range of qualities that make up what an image of a honorable person that we ought to aspire to and hold others to.
The fact that I just saw a practicing lawyer on Substack refer to a prominent science journalist as a "smooth brained boy", just because of his disagreement, makes me worried that Rosenfeld's worry is correct, that we're letting standards slide, and that the shameless of social media is quickly becoming the background radiation of far too many people's intellectual lives.
Taylor, check out my "resources for patriots" on my academic website. https://kestrel.nmt.edu/~rsonnenf/ Inspired by Heather Cox Richardsons jan 9 post.