It has been going on for some time now. I’m not even sure when it first began. It was a subtle chipping away of social cohesion and morality. Those who had maintained order and insisted on moral behavior began retiring or were distracted from their tasks. At first, it may have seemed a good thing, and people questioned authority and insisted on freedom and personal rights. However, this small change triggered an avalanche. The balance between liberty and authority was lost. Societies need a balance between freedom and authority to function, and when the pendulum swings too far either way, there are problems.
In the past decade, society has favored absolute libertarian freedom for everyone. Those who wished to maintain control or morality within society were pushed to the fringes. Society lost the ability to determine even the most basic definitions of what it means to be human or even what it means to be a woman. In addition to a loss of cohesion within the society, adults became reluctant to insist on even the most basic moral behavior. Children, often raised in a one-parent family, ceased to respect any form of authority. The result, while unanticipated two decades ago, should have been predictable.
Schools are chaotic and, in many cases, completely dysfunctional. Recently a teacher was shot by a six-year-old child. Less dramatic but still very troubling, teachers are assaulted frequently in the school system. And students themselves are bullied by their classmates or assaulted either at school or in transit. Despite that, nowhere within the system are the adults ready to take a stand. The legal system itself protects students from the discipline that they need. Many teachers are reluctant to insist on orderly classrooms because of confrontations. One sheriff in Florida held a news conference where he spoke plainly about his plans to arrest students for misbehavior.
Why is this? Because at every level, people have become self-centered and unwilling to accept authority. Individual freedom and narcissism have merged, creating generations whose only concern is maximizing their pleasure. Uncorrected, this will be the end of society as we know it.
When I was in school, well before this level of disciplinary problems, students began the day with prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance. Both reinforced the idea that there was an ultimate authority, God, to whom we were responsible and should obey. The adults also understood that they were accountable to the powers in place. Immoral behavior was shameful, and people did not wish to be shamed. Lying was a severe offense; if politicians were caught lying, it negatively impacted their election chances. In essence, society understood that it was necessary to have a source of authority for society to function and have cohesion. The founding fathers understood this. To have a democracy, it is essential to have virtuous people. Without virtuous people, society will eventually require a totalitarian government to enforce behavior and societal cohesion.
Our society is at a breaking point. Either we will decide that authority is essential and return to a structure governed by God and enforced by those the society has appointed, or we will wind up with a totalitarian government that will enforce law and order with little regard for our wishes. So, will the adults please stand up and behave responsibly? We are running out of time.
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