The “mindset” of those I knew in the years of my youth, when there were no computers and smartphones, may be gleaned from conversations we had in those “simpler” days. The moral clarity that prevailed in America before 1960 must be kept in mind to understand that mentality: first duty to God, love of family, of country, freedom, and truth.
These elements of sane and healthy living, drawn from ageless wisdom, formed a worldview that made it possible to know who we were, where we came from, and where we were going. It gave us a “present” that was fruitful and a “future” that promised a life of fulfillment, in spite of the inevitable problems and hangups along the way. Nothing in our environment and experience could feed the notion that such fundamentals of living could in some future be mocked, trashed, or vanish, as in a cataclysmic disaster.
So, what was on our minds in those “pre-digital dark ages”? A hint follows from some topics of conversation I had with a friend who, like me, enjoyed diving deep into any subject.
The range of topics these two Brooklynites discussed at an upscale home in Flatbush was – like the garden they faced from a porch – fairly narrow, but their vertical dimension had no top or bottom. When it rained, an awning was cranked down over the porch and the patter of rain joined the chatter of talk . . .
. . . about rocket scientists paving the way to escape earth’s gravity. Imagine being propelled into the vacuum of space surrounding the earth, but not beyond a critical speed, so that you neither accelerated nor decelerated but remained in constant orbit around the earth! The prominent German rocket engineer, Wernher von Braun, worked for the United States to explore possibilities that could set the stage for exploring the solar system . . .
. . . Imagine seeing what is happening in one place somewhere else, even at a great distance, by transmitting the scene on radio waves! Television was no longer a Buck Rogers fantasy (original vintage) but a demonstrated possibility, conducted years ago under lab conditions. Could it be long before television became a common reality? This would go way beyond the “progress” of soap that floats in the tub like a “Swan” (a popular brand) . . .
. . . Imagine building a system of psychology upon the many abnormal minds that Freud studied. The word fraud slipped into our minds . . .
. . . Excluding the amazing field of electronics, was there anything too subtle for science to explain – things that stagger the mind and keep it in the dark? It was a question that raised mysteries that defied rational analysis.
What could account (scientifically) for the intense feeling of déjà vu that spooked me at the Brooklyn Museum of Art when I stood before vast Chinese monochromes-on-silk that conjured misty valleys punctuated with fantastic mountain formations? I sensed being there before in some hazy past. But I had never yet left New York or seen such images before. How then could they “mean” so much to me? Could the mind play such utterly fantastic tricks, as it does sometimes in dreams? . . .
. . . Why are some, from earliest childhood, drawn to certain colors or repelled by certain odors? Although plausible theories may explain such psychological enigmas, what theory can there be for the case of musical prodigies who, with no exceptional training or practice, play difficult classical piano music in a way that rivals the performance of seasoned adult concert pianists? . . .
. . . Did gadgets that bring more convenience or fun also bring happiness? If contentment could not be found in family, shelter, work, health, and faith – with or without such products – could it ever be found? It was a question that challenged the heart as well as the mind.
Of the many riddles that my friend and I tackled in our teen talks none could beat those we speak of today: doctors that remove breasts of girls who think they’re boys and remove the penises of boys who they think they’re girls; tampons in men’s rooms; Christian ministers who reject the Gospel instead of preaching it; a pope that denounces faithful Catholics; babies that survive abortion left to die from deliberate neglect because they’re not wanted; a president who scoffs at immigration law and lets millions of aliens come into the country illegally and rewards them for it . . . to cite some current puzzles cases of deficient mentality in America.
Such virtual insanity has been promoted as a “new normal” and pushed by left-leaning sociopaths who think they are “on the right side of history.”
To them and to everyone hooked on that nonsense, I say keep your “new normal” to yourselves – you’ve earned and own its barbaric content – and be prepared for correctives from those living on the true side of history, the side that coincides with the wisdom and the will of our Creator, God.
Oldtimers frequently get criticized for living in the past. Well, this old American Thinker responds by pointing out that he is living in his future, which decades from now will be the past of today’s youngsters. And he fervently wishes that their future will be far better than his future, such as it is, full of endless riddles outrages like treating millions of people like lab animals, burning churches and venerated cathedrals, mocking the Last Supper at the Olympics . . .
For the sake of a future worth living in by our children and their children, please guard against the seductive talk of Democrats and their Republican friends – rhetoric that disregards reality and turns things backwards and upside down – and keep in mind the outrages against humanity that they are responsible for when you vote.
Anthony J. DeBlasi is a veteran and lifelong defender of western culture.
Image: Pablo Carlos Budassi, via Wikimedia Commons // CC BY-SA 4.0
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