December 31, 2022

Have you read George Orwell’s perennially popular and spookily prescient book Animal Farm?

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Written in 1945, it is recognized as one of the most foundational books of the 20th century and the book’s satire vs. the reality of today is striking.  The story tells of farm animals who collectively decided they would no longer give their productive efforts for the benefit of the farm family.  The animals drove out the farmer.  Then they divided up the “profits” of the farm to each animal, purportedly according to its needs.  After the overthrow of the farmers, the pigs ultimately became the new overseers and enslaved the lesser animals.    

Animal Farm addresses the problem of who believe society is unfair and are convinced in their own minds that there must be a better way.  Except there isn’t.  The moral of the story is that collectivism and socialism do not work.

It takes intellectual rigor to avoid making the same mistakes repeatedly.  It is challenging especially for the young and those who:

  1. Did not acquire a good grounding in reason or academic discipline through education
  2. Have never experienced real suffering or failure
  3. Have been deprived of appropriate role models    

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Yet, warts and all, since our country was created, we’ve seen an unbroken string of generally successful adults, until recently. 

Where did we go wrong, and how can we fix our shortcomings?

We all want our children and families to enjoy happiness, health, and success.  Yet too often, there is no good life plan or clear direction.    What has changed for so many who don’t seem to be able to make a go of their lives anymore, while most of us over 40 made it?  How did so many of our young get off track? 

There are no easy answers to this vital question.    

If it were simple, we’d have fixed the problem by now.  How do the following statements/concerns fit into our concerns?

  1. The rapidity of change generally frightens youth and prevents them from making the right decisions too often
  2. Social media has created an alternative universe that has become a kind of “default” proxy substitution for real life
  3. The ability to survive without gainful employment either through parental support, government entitlements, subsidies, or by continuing formal education while debt accumulates
  4. Underachievers achieve social acceptance because so many others are merely treading economic water.  There is no stigma, no adverse judgment to contend with any longer.
  5. Victimhood of all kinds. Fault and failure have been eliminated from the equation, and Safe Spaces have replaced all the bad things one used to face in the absence of tangible success.

I recently spoke with a well-known writer who is intelligent, thoughtful, and knowledgeable.