Does getting older make you care less?
By the time my mother reached her high 90s, she seemed to care less about everything. Part of this, I’m almost sure, is that she was experiencing a marked although mercifully slow cognitive decline. There were a few pluses, though, in addition to the negatives: she had always been a relatively anxious person, and now her general anxiety seemed almost gone.
I wondered about this, and I decided that in order to be anxious it probably helps to have a keen appreciation of time, because part of anxiety is anticipating the future. And my mother seemed to be less aware of time and the future.
She also had had so many losses of friends—after all, she survived nearly every single one of her contemporaries—that she became more and more philosophical or perhaps stoic on hearing of the death of some of the last ones. It’s not that it didn’t bother her, but seemingly not too much or for too long.
My mother had a thing about my hair, which is curly. She always thought it too messy, and for years and years and years every time I visited her she’d frown a little bit and ask if I could brush it and smooth it out. “No,” I’d say. “This is the way my hair is. If I brushed it more it would just get bushier.” It got to be our little dance, and as she got older and older and older it bothered me less. In the last few years it made me smile because it meant she still cared about stuff like that, which I considered a good sign.
I had often joked that I’d know things had really gotten bad if she stopped saying it. Well, a couple months before she died—during her last, more precipitous, decline—she stopped saying it. I knew what that meant, and it made me sad. What had been a joke was no joke at all any more.
As I’ve gotten older myself I’ve noticed that long before the stage my mother reached there is often a diminution of the intensity of the feelings of youth. Some people are happy about it because no longer are they storm-tossed by every disappointment and fear they experience. For others it can segue into too much of a flatness and even a depression. Others don’t experience it at all.
I’m not sure where I stand on this. I know I used to be more shy in social situations than I am now. But I know I can still get pretty intense about a lot of things, and even more intense about some—for example, politics.
Ah, politics! You knew that would rear its ugly head, didn’t you?
Which brings us to the first sentence of this comment by “Tonawanda” earlier today:
Fast approaching the undiscovered country (age-wise) it is for me less urgent what folks like BO do, however despicable.
“BO” is, of course, Barack Obama. “The undiscovered country (age-wise)” is a reference to Hamlet’s soliloquy “To be or not to be,” in which he refers to death as “The undiscover’d country from whose bourn/No traveller returns…” (“bourn” has an archaic meaning of destination, domain, or boundary).
I’ve seen and heard a lot of comments to that effect over the years in political discussions: “I’m old, so I hardly care anymore.” People sometimes say a variant of it, which is that their children can worry about it but they don’t all that much.
I understand the sentiment and I’m not condemning it, but I find that not only do I not share it, but that I seem to care more than ever. There’s something about what Obama is doing to trash the rule of law and the separation of powers, as well as specific actions of his such as the pact with Iran that is likely to give them permission to have nuclear arms, or his advocacy of terrible policies such as this one, that bother me intensely. There’s something about the idea of the possible death of the American republic that fills me with a personal, bitter, and sharp despair, whether I’d be around to see the event or not.
How about you?
An individual’s lifespan, however long, is insufficient for perspective when commenting on the fate of a nation.
History is required.
Every time I think the country has been irreparably harmed by BO, I remember that we had FDR for many, many years.
The US eventually threw off the yoke of Democrat one-party rule.
Yes, I feel exactly the same. I suspect if the left were not such an empirical threat, we’d be far more accepting of letting the younger folks deal with future events.
That coupled with the fact that so many of the young have no reference point of contrast, of a time when there were much greater liberties ( no nanny state) and far less political correctness.
Most seem to think that the way things are now is somehow normal or that society has now evolved to a higher state, when in truth, America has devolved to a lesser state.
I find as I age that I fear tyrants like Obama less and despise them more. Whether I personally suffer from his actions lessens my fear but does not effect the intensity of my emotional response. That is because there are things greater than myself which I love and defend because they are good.
Neo,
a couple months before she died–during her last, more precipitous, decline–she stopped saying it. I knew what that meant, and it made me sad. What had been a joke was no joke at all any more.
Very sad when we are young /youth our feelings the world in our hand we can do big things and a lot, when we reach old age we realize the years passed so fast and so short lived, once we thought it so far and so long to reach that age, we were fooled ourselves its so long to get to that.
But the truth is the death is the end of our life, so the new fresh young will carry on and on.
Wish you long life and hop you enjoy your coming years…
About the fifth year of the Obama era, I found a wave of calming acceptance sweeping over me. At least relative to how I’d been feeling. Once he won re-election and it became clear there was no true effective opposition to him, I decided to not obsess so much over events that were on a trajectory I could do nothing about. It is sad to see your country turn in to something it wasn’t meant to. The only thing we can control is our own lives and I’m not letting the POtuS ruin anymore of mine than possible. We had a good run but the far left won.
My mother’s health is declining fairly rapidly – heart and lung problems. She used to be a Felix Unger type neat freak. She no longer has the energy and doesn’t care quite as much.
But I care about our country’s bleak future for my children and my grandchildren. I’m blessed to have lived during what I consider the very best years of it (My father was of the “greatest generation”) and very sad and disappointed that my grandchildren won’ t be as blessed.
Geoffrey’s point about the younger generations not comprehending the sad devolution of the “American way” is very well taken. Matt’s observation about our surviving the FDR years is only partially reassuring. FDR and his claquers left behind a deeply imbedded bureaucracy and bureaucratic philosophy (“We know better than you how you should live”) that survived and thrives despite several waves of revived American common sense during which there were efforts to stem Big Government etc. We need not here go into how that same creeping socialistic philosophy made it so easy and comfortable for Soviet agents and communist sympathizers to nestle in and operatewithin the government. We should, however, say a bitter “Thank you” to the miserable professor, Woodrow Wilson for his early spadework in turning the country’s plaintive face toward Washington. I am a little older than our beloved Neo, but I, too, find myself animated and angry at what is happening to us. And I am somewhat depressed because I fear there may not be a sufficient supply left of that old basic American common sense that, for instance, Reagan appealed to and energized. I try to keep that sense — that liberty-rooted American sense — alive in my grandchildren.
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KLS,
I agree that all we can do is control as much of our own life as possible… same as it ever was. But when children and soon for me a 6th grandchild are concerned, the days after my death are a very personal manner which is of course beyond ones ability to exercise any amount of control. That is why I want the grand conflagration sooner, while I can still provide protection for my progeny, than later.
What is coming will blow away the relative complacency of the reign of the boychild. IMO, as much as jihad is a serious threat, global financial meltdown is coming and will bring political repression and ultimately war on civil, regional, and global levels. Interesting times… same as it ever was.
This is your most eloquent post. No need to say more, but that’s what you’ve asked for, so here goes. Why write about politics? Well, in the United States, to be a conservative means to care about life and to loathe the politicization of life. We seek a government that lets us be. I wish it weren’t so, but this is a constant fight. Among many other things, you need to keep writing. Still, I’d like to hear more about jello and dance.
I too find that age has made me care all the more — and become ever more aggravated about the pervading fetor of the zeitgeist.
I hereby proffer my public confiteor — I am intolerant… of ambiguity, distension of meaning, usurpation of definition, and all gnostic urges elevated first to convention, then to paradigm, finally, to exemplar. Furthermore, I resist change — when it is not volitional. And I am against equality — I will not believe in what is not — I’ll not make allowances for unicorns either. I am profoundly against progress — this, a result of having noticed in the long ago that one may progress more easily down a slippery slope than up a hill. And whereas I’d once been a young man of an exceedingly sweet disposition, I now find I can be positively curmudgeonly. The upside to this — everything has an upside — even devolution — is that I am now more content than ever with family and friends, whereas in my youthful manhood I’d made a vocation of looking for new, exciting, interesting, beguiling etc.
So, though caring much more — and simultaneously hating all that has come to pass exogenously, I find great comfort and joy in what had changed endogenously. I am a better person than I’d been, God has primacy in my life as do those close to me, I am at peace with myself — and with the world — no matter how ornery it is. It’s altogether nice that I’d found I hadn’t lost my sweet disposition – I’d just redirected it, exclusively, to that which is deserving of it.
I just turned 58 in February and an old friend of mine, who was a bit older but not much — died of a brain tumor. I have been mourning on and off and it also gave me a huge wake-up call about mortality, my own. And, also how friends will start to pass at a greater pace as I get into my sixties in two years, and how precious friendship and time really is. I am more drama averse than I was once, but I still certainly have my personal dramas. I do have a little more inner calm in the storm though, in spite of it all. I know that’s age! However, like you — I still care with passionate intensity about many things and politics is certainly one of them. I wish now I had not spent so many years in my youth in the left and possibly there is something I can do now to make others see that there is a cult like quality about the far left and that it is so wrong on so many levels. I am also very worried that the course we are on is the worst possible, or nearly — and I am so angry that so many young people and people my age that I know here in Northern California – don’t understand how precious our republic really is. So, no that has not diminished with age. I feel that I see more clearly and more acutely and less with emotion, even though I have this passion, but more with logic and that brings me partly to this place. The far left is a very illogical and emotional place, winning hearts with slogans.
My mother is in her early 80’s and mostly in good health though not perfect health. She also is more political than I have ever seen her in my life, and for once, we are mostly on the same side! That’s a surprise! But yes, she is deeply upset about many current events and my father as well, though I think she is the driving force in that.
I see so many people who appear to be at least 50 at speeches I watch online by conservatives and it does worry me. I worry that younger people are just too brainwashed by the left, at least, if they went to college and in spite of the burden of student loans more go to universities than ever before. What will happen when we die? I know there are others following behind and the country just went red by a huge margin in the last election but…
So yes, like you I care as much as ever though regarding personal dramas, I am a bit more able to distance myself. But there is a sense of urgency… which I think is important to have.
I mean, a sense of urgency about politics…
The last election was hopeful though. There’s something in America that loves freedom and hates tyranny.
Liberty Wolf:
I’m with you. A greater sense of urgency about politics rather than a lesser sense.
In my private life, at least a bit more equanimity about certain things. Not about certain other things, though.
I still fight the dying of the light.
I think we are living in a time where the Left is panicked.
New media will give more expression to Liberty & not just the Liberty the Left condones (you know where they want you to have all the birth control provided
promiscuous sex, buttressed by Free Gov paid for Sexually acquired disease treatment & unfettered abortions). Consequently I think Individual Liberty will win out. Look Hilary an aging baby boomer thought she could keep a *private server* under wraps. Democrats are salivating over *internet control* & stomping out Uber. I don t think *tight wraps* can be held on individual Liberty for much longer. Think about it….. if these 1% like Obama & Hillary & their ilk constantly think they can flaunt laws it will occur as well to everybody else! Just a few years ago there was a huge attempt to arrest people filming cops, there was some intimidation & it settled down only to come roaring back as a *taken for granted now*.
This will happen with *other issues*, just wait until *they* try to herd us into behaviors using Obamacare
then the fur will fly again ! No I don t think America will be back to 1950s Eisenhower era life but I do think a new thrust to personal Liberty will eventually prevail, I don t think I ll be around to witness it ultimately but neither will Pelosi, Biden, Reid, Gore, & Bill & Hillary either. Obama will need to be awakened from a drug stooper to be told.
This is one of the reason I follow your blog Neo; your insight is fantastic!
Yes, I have grown to care less about so many things that would have made me very anxious in my youth (social settings being one of them). Now, my attitude is “ah, who cares if I make a fool of myself – the problem is with those who would judge me for a innocent, and meaning-no-harm, social faux pas.”
But, politics! Yes, I care a lot more about politics than I did when younger. And with Obama, a LOT more.
Carter, and others before who I felt I simply disagreed with, I still thought they meant well and that whatever they did wrong we could fix. Or in the case of Ford “pardoning” Nixon – which I hated at the time – I’ve come to realize that he had the country’s best interest at heart and was far wiser than my youthful self.
But, with Obama I don’t believe he means well. I do believe he is a racist. I do believe that he wants to knock the US down a peg or two. Unlike Ford, he has no wisdom (he just thinks he does). He is a bitter, petty, up-to-no-good jerk!
A lot of what he is doing is affecting me PERSONALLY; and that ticks me off! The job market for one; the Obamacare “tax” (i.e., fine) for another; and, not least, the hostility he is encouraging between blacks and other races. While there have been problems between races in the past, I personally, have never had it “in your face” as much as now. Several times in the years since Obama has taken office I have run into blacks openly showing hostility to whites, and me personally, in the subway in NYC. Something that I rarely ran into before.
I also believe that a lot of the damage he is doing might be unrepairable. And THAT scares me. Not just for myself (will my “retirement” even be possible?); but, for future generations. how screwed up is Obama making things for them?
So, yea. A lot of things I don’t care enough about any more; but, politics is getting under my skin like never before. So for self sanity maybe I need to go live under a rock? If it were possible I would pack up and go live off the land somewhere far, far, away.
The older you get the more you realize that most of the things people worry about are fairly unimportant.
With age comes disillusionments.
I have been a “forward leaner” all my life. During my Navy days I was trained to be forehanded. Look ahead, look for obstacles, have a plan, stay on the attack. Same thing during my airline career. Always try to stay ahead of the curve, plan flights well, anticipate problems, try to make each flight the best I could possibly execute.
Retirement took a bit of that edge off. For a couple of years I kind of unwound, as I built our retirement home and developed the acreage we lived on. I bought a computer for the word processing capability. I thought I had some stories to tell. Then I learned about the Internets and blogs. 20 years now I have been reading and commenting. The Clinton years stoked my interest in politics to a new level. Then 9/11 drove me to try to understand why the Muslims wanted to kill us. It has become a bit of an addiction, but it keeps my juices flowing. I can’t talk to but one of my neighbors about politics. Except for one kindred soul, they are all LIVs or useful idiots for the progs.
Maybe I’m a little less aggressive, inclined to kick back a bit more. We do like to travel when we have the $. I totaled up recently. I’ve visited 42 countries and have learned a tremendous amount from those travels. Probably the most important thing I have learned is how fortunate we all are to live in the U.S. The problem we have is that so few people, even smart professionals (college professors, CEOs, politicians, and military officers), have thought through why this country is so blessed and how easily it could become a second rate power.
My interest in what is going on in the world is still high. My biggest regret is that we conservatives have not been able to overcome the megaphone of the MSM and the leftist grooming of students by our academic system. I’m sorry our children and grandchildren are not going to know the freedom and prosperity we have been so fortunate to experience. I have my days when I’m down, ready to throw up my hands, and sad. But it never lasts long. I guess I’ll know the end is getting close when my fighting spirit ebbs to not caring. Till then, I’m still trying in any way I can to make a difference.
I’m looking hopefully at retirement from academia in a few years. The college I work at is continuing it’s Gramascian march, and even more so now with a push for GE reform. I am concerned about the impact on students. I’ve had my say at open faculty meetings, only to be called out as “an old white guy”.
I’ve had younger faculty tell me they need my voice, but now I’ve told them, that at this point I’ve done my bit, and it’s ultimately going to be their bed to lie in, not mine. They have to take up the cause as they are the ones who are going to have to live with the consequences for decades; I’ll be gone.
I feel I have a moral responsibility to the students, but at the same time after decades of trying to stem the flood with a mere finger in the dike, my “give a damn is busted.”
I agree with G Joubert’s comment: “The older you get the more you realize that most of the things people worry about are fairly unimportant.”
It’s like getting shot at – once you face the imminent threat of extinction, you realize what is really important and don’t sweat the small stuff. Plus, you can’t worry about everything forever – I guess even worry has its limits.
But I have gone back to a simplicity with regards to values. (Not that I’m thinking of passing on soon!) By that I mean I do see things more black and white vice nuanced these days. It’s in the margins or shades of gray that most people seem to get messed up.
Have I reached Blake’s experienced innocence stage?
My experience is much like that of “physicsguy.” What — if anything — does it mean that there are no young people reading this?
I am 83 years old and have had a wonderful, full life with children and grandchildren. Not an easy life, but I have been wonderfully blessed. Now I worry about the life I am leaving my progeny with this man in the White House. It is sad, sad! I only pray for better times.
Some of what follows is a paraphrase of “The Sopranos” writer/producer David Chase’s thoughts on the meaning of his master work.
In the end we understand what we should have known all along. That life is very short but you cannot live it that way.
We don’t know why we’re here but we know there are good time and bad times and we know that 20 miles up there is only freezing cold and all we have to protect us from it is love.
In the end life will be ripped away from us.
Most all our feelings are engendered by this stark reality. This is angst. This is the dread that ultimately we are all alone and solely responsible for ourselves. Love is the only thing that helps. Love is all there is.
“There is a tide in the affairs of men.
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune”
Brutus does not say what happens when the tide ebbs.
The flood tide began the Age of Enlightenment. Its peak was perhaps at the dawning of the Age of Progressivism and its more revolting cousins, communism and national socialism.
The ebbing of the tide is now well underway. We have all been sucked out of the safe and comfortable shallows and are well on our way to sea and death by drowning.
-the decline of Christianity
-the ascendance of Islam
-the near-death of the American Republic
-the decline of individual responsibility
-the relentless ascent of collectivism
-the irrelevance of Natural Law
-the suicide of Western Civilization
At home, we see rodents disguised as legislators,
the nationalization of American banks, as a component of
Centralized Government,
the Holding of Federal Debt as “Investment”,
a Pied Piper in the White house,
Political Correctness,
Diversity instead of community,
Inverted Racism
Acceptance is the only response to this inexorable outgoing tide.
I’m 45 years old. So not as old as many here. Ive had times of great angst for this nation since 2007, during the later parts of Bush’s Presidency. My personal feeling is we are running out of time to wake people up. As if those who cannot see, will for the most part continue to not see -so deep in deception they will be. I try to wake people up by steering them to conservative talk radio and news sites. I also do volunteer work at a foster care facility with my church. There however I stay away from politics. Our mission there is telling the kids about God. Sometimes I realize that some of the kids might as well have come from a third world nation in Africa as they have so little previous knowledge about things I suspect were once common knowledge in this country . Sometimes when I think about this country I just want to say “Come, Lord Jesus.”
Those of you who are Christians, I suggest you find an orphanage/foster home, etc to work with. The country may not be saved. But individuals can be. There are kids out there dying for an adult to invest time in their lives.
A few years ago a pastor at our church advised a group of people, of which I was one of the younger, to “Finish strong”….
Its all a matter of what you teach your children who in turn teach your grandchildren. Life is simple. Control what you can and resist with votes or lead those who seek to deny you life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
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For me it’s both. I care less about quite a few things, more about the deep things that count. I’m turning 60 this year, and feeling like life is slipping through my fingers, while at the same time I appreciate it more than ever.
Muriel Rukeyser said it well:
This Place in the Ways
Having come to this place
I set out once again
On the dark and marvelous way
From where I began:
Belief in the love of the world,
Woman, spirit, and man.
Having failed in all things
I enter a new age
Seeing the old ways as toys,
The houses of a stage
Painted and long forgot;
And I find love and rage.
Rage for the world as it is
But for what it may be
More love now than last year.
And always less self-pity
Since I know in a clearer light
The strength of mystery.
And at this place in the ways
I wait for song,
My poem-hand still, on the paper,
All night long.
Poems in the throat and hand, asleep,
And my storm beating strong!
–Muriel Rukeyser
I certainly get upset about the politics, but that isn’t what touches me most. I worry about the kids who aren’t learning enough about real life to be strong enough to face what may come. I grew up closely connected to my extended family. I saw sickneses and death, good choices and bad choices, foolish young who usually grew up and had good lives. Somehow through all this, I learned how to move on and live my life. And my parents loved and trusted me to do okay. I worry about what will happen to all the young who have been sheltered and coddled. Will they have what it takes to keep on learning from life’s experiences or will they just protest and send text messages?
It is for my young daughter that I fight.
It is for her that I, shamefully, despair.
It is for her alone that I live.
It is a world of hate and greed whose utter destruction seems predestined, almost welcomed.
It is for God only that hope faintly flutters in my breast.
In the youth of old age, broken, I am furious at the cruel ideologies that my “betters” embrace and impose, knowing their histories, knowing their ends.
With fleeting strength, my days of Service past, no true friends that fight, I still rage, sadly, less and less, against the dying of the light.
Part of me feels graceless in explaining my remark, and letting explanations go is a skill conferred by age.
By graceless I mean I realize the post was not specifically about my remark, which was more of a parenthetical jumping off point.
I just want to emphasize my use of the word “urgent.”
I can truly say I have never hated anyone in my life. Similarly, I have never felt bitterness in my life. Plenty of anger and (at times very) occasional rage, yes, but never from hate or bitterness.
During those moments I am thinking favorably about myself, not hating and not being bitter rank near the top of my achievements in life. Many people are blessed to be able to consider that statement bizarre and ridiculous, and may their blessings continue.
Pretty much being born near mid-century in America is an almost complete basis for a sense of gratitude sufficient to cancel the negative stuff.
Caring about the fate of America, to me, is indistinguishable from caring about the fate of mankind. It is impossible for me to care less than I do about what despicable people do.
It is specifically impossible for me to care less about what despicable people like BO do. I believe I am witnessing a wretched descent into barbarism.
I see the tattoos, the disfiguring metal accessories, the bovine acceptance of junk thinking, and the widespread corollary of uncomprehending suffering. I see the 20 and 30 and 40 year old children who are in clueless anguish because of 30 and 40 and 50 and 60 and 70 and 80 year old semi-children who were too selfish to give more than the “quality time” of prostitutes.
We are so far from the intellectual and spiritual humanity of America, there is only hope and fight against despair.
But it is all far less urgent to me, personally. I am one of the lucky ones. My sense of urgency would benefit exactly zero people.
My regarding of curly hair (in which I am in utter agreement with certain mothers) and tee-totaling will never relent.
Tonawanda:
You don’t like curly hair??
At the ripe old age of nearly-25 I have reached the following conclusions:
America will be fine and will ultimately correct whatever excess befell her, as it historically always has, even if some more social and fiscal mess is in order before that happens.
It is Europe I actually worry about with their sort of liberticidal urges. It would not be such a problem if they also did not have a much less prominent tradition of liberalism (in the proper acceptation of the term, a set of ideas and principles aimed at maximizing individual liberty) on which to rebuild themselves and if they did not have the Ishmaelite counter-civilization in their midst.
I do worry about that since I am likely to stay in Europe and, given the trend, my long term bet should be either a set of Islamic Republics or the “overcorrection” of a new fascism (probably of a nationalist rather than of a “European” orientation, although separate peoples do seem to be getting more unified in function of some shared goals). *Some* sort of a dictatorial enterprise, the question being the one of direction and of degree. I hope I get proven wrong and they beat the odds for either of these extremes.
But America will be fine. I have almost no doubt about that. At the end of the day, Americans are a moral and a religious people and there is much good that will resurface when needed.
I will also repeat once more that when I look at my generation, both European and American, as unrepresentative as my sample may be, it is decidedly VERY FAR AWAY from the caricatural mass of brainwashed fornicating unlettered acritical leftists. I have no idea WHERE are all of the degenerates, I suspect the MSM are blowing some issues massively out of proportion. Politically (but also educationally, morally etc.), while there are problems, we are still better off than many of the commenters here seem to think. 🙂 Not all is gloom and doom. My optimism may be naive in some aspects, but I really think the overall situation is much better than often presented.
cornflour, what makes you sure that no young people read this blog?
Remember that America was forged in the Tyranny of Europe. Freedom can be re-lit. And even if we are at the end of all things, jon baker said “Finish Strong”.
Neo: What a wonderful post, and the comments are priceless. Not to diminish the other comments, but I especially liked what Liberty Wolf, Don Carlos, and G Joubert wrote.
I think as one ages, one cares less about things that one can’t do anything about. Sadly, politics seems to fall into that category these days. We vote for conservatives, but what’s the point? Nothing ever changes. It sure seems like Ayn Rand was right: Voting is nothing more than the sanction of the victim.
snopercod:
Thanks!
But about your statement “we vote for conservatives, but what’s the point”—well, I think that attitude is a recipe for the triumph of evil. You don’t know what changes as a result of voting for conservatives because you don’t know what would have happened if, for example, Congress and the presidency had been totally dominated by liberals all those years when they were not. Do you really think everything would the same? I don’t. Another thing that has changed is that, although conservatives don’t dominate the party, they constitute a greater percentage of it. The solution is to support more conservatives, and work for that. I am quite puzzled as to why so many on the right give up so easily and quickly. The left has been working for at least 150 years in order to reach the point it’s reached now, maybe even more. And working very very hard, too. I assure you, they never give up, although there have been times when it must have looked to them like they were losing.
I realize the left can point to a record of long, slow victories, a slow march towards more government dependency, for instance. But that’s partly the nature of government in general and of human nature, as well as the left’s “end justifies the means” tactics. The left has in many ways an easier road to go down, I realize. But that doesn’t mean that the right can’t someday reverse that—although to do so permanently requires more vigilance than the right has been able to exercise. For example:
Anna:
I certainly hope you’re right about both the US’s future and the qualities of your own generation!!
If you’re any indication, I think the future is in good hands.
So my attitude is responsible for the triumph of evil? Sorry, but I don’t accept that unearned guilt. I’ve voted in every election for over fifty years and I like to think I’m an informed voter and a good citizen. I’ve served on the board of the local Tea Party, and attended numerous rallies. I donate what I can to conservative candidates but, funny thing, the candidates with the GOPe backing always seem to win.
I keep abreast of the news and am informed of the positions of the candidates. In recent elections, I spent days researching the CV of all the down-ballot candidates like judges and agricultural commissioners and fill out my sample ballot in advance. But let’s face it, I’m probably the only one in my entire county that goes to that trouble. So I have come to realize that my one vote is basically a waste of my precious time. It’s like wetting my pants in a dark suit – It gives me a warm feeling but nobody notices.
Speaking of time, us oldsters can see the end of the road ahead, and that makes us more interested in finishing things left undone in our personal lives than worrying about which statist is elected to which office. I’ll probably be ejected from the Oldster’s Guild for telling you this, but we have a pact to keep the secrets of getting old to ourselves and never, NEVER, let you young folks know what’s in store for you. It’s an act of mercy, trust me.
My wife has vowed never to vote again, and I may join her if the GOPe shoves Jeb down our collective throats as expected. Personally, I have things to do where I can have a positive effect on my life. Remember the Serenitty Prayer? That’s where I’m at right now:
snopercod:
You don’t have to accept the guilt. But in my opinion those who refuse to vote in an election are responsible in small part for what happens as a result of their not voting. For example, refuse to vote for Romney in 2012 and you’re responsible, in however small measure, for the re-election of Barack Obama.
As for the “well, it’s only one vote” argument, I offer something I read in the book They Thought They Were Free by Milton Mayer. In it, Mayer interviewed a number of Germans right after WWII about the rise of Nazism and the war years. One of them said the following, which is not a parallel to the situation we find ourselves in, but rather a meditation on the power of an individual who might think that “After all, I’m only one voice.”
The situation was a discussion of a loyalty oath the speaker took in 1935, even though he was anti-Nazi and considered not taking it and risking the loss of his job. He was looking back with great regret, and telling the author that, if he hadn’t taken the oath that day in 1935 (before the evils of the regime had come to full fruition), the Nazi regime might have been kept from doing some of its evil. The author was puzzled; could this intelligent man actually mean that his act, the act of a single person, could have saved the day? That was absurd.
The man’s answer was this:
It’s an odd thought, but it’s one I had had even before I read that passage several years ago. For example, the reason polls work as well as they do is that each person stands for a large group of people like him/her. The decisions we make are being made by millions of people like us.
” I’ll probably be ejected from the Oldster’s Guild for telling you this, but we have a pact to keep the secrets of getting old to ourselves and never, NEVER, let you young folks know what’s in store for you. It’s an act of mercy, trust me.”
… but if you think our future is that bad, would not an act of mercy be to tell us before it comes – or at least warn us to run away in time?
Anna wrote: “would not an act of mercy be to tell us before it comes — or at least warn us to run away in time?”
The problem is that young folks don’t listen. They’re too busy with their own lives.
Neo– I finally figured out the perfect analogy: Cancer.
I have a good friend who is dying of cancer. Now I care about that, but there’s nothing I can do. There’s nothing anybody can do.
America has cancer, too. I care deeply about that, but once again, there’s nothing I can do about it. The great masses of disinterested and ignorant Americans have completely overwhelmed our defenses.
The moral question you posed about the Nazi loyalty oath is difficult. Ten years ago I would have probably taken your position, but not any more. I now realize that the moral thing to do would be to take the oath and continue to support my family. It’s almost never moral to sacrifice oneself or one’s family no matter what, but then my definition of morality might be a little different than yours.
Thanks again for this great essay.
snopercod:
I understand what you’re saying. Everyone draws the line somewhere or other. People draw it at different places, however. And no one risks anything by voting, as compared to whatever risk a German had by not taking a loyalty oath in 1935.
The writer’s point was that if enough people had refused, the risk to everyone in the end would have been much, much less. But of course, you can’t know in advance how many people will resist.
I have no idea whether or not I would have joined the Resistance during the war. But the people who did—and the people who hid Jews, or committed other acts I think of as heroic—are heroes to me. Protecting one’s family is also important, for sure, but at what point does a person need to let other considerations override that? It’s always a difficult judgment call. People who are young adults and single, without children, are probably more likely to be able to take the risk.
I just don’t understand how something as simple as voting factors into it. Whether or not you think the “cancer” is incurable or not, not voting is giving up completely, and voting carries no risk at all. For now.
Although the U.S. is clearly walking down the same philosophical road that the Germans took, I think there’s one big difference: Americans have guns. Also, many of us have taken an oath to protect and defend the U.S. Constitution.
Thanks for keeping this conversation going. I know you’re busy.