Respect
In the youth culture, you hear a lot about “respect”. As always, though, it is wiser to judge not words… but actions. So, what is the actual status of RESPECT in the younger generation?
Look at an obvious area: music. While there are many talented young artists who give us some beautiful music, there is one relatively new and very large segment of the music industry that continues to grow: rap. Honestly, I am not a fan of rap, so I may be biased… but I’ll try to present some objective observations. First, let me say that I have heard a few songs (OK, very few) that I can appreciate the beat, syncopation, and rhyming. But I have a very serious problem with the lyrics of many songs. Aside from the profane language, which tends to make the vulgar acceptable, the underlying messages lean strongly toward violence and abuse of women.
Since this type of music is gaining a wide audience, I can only conclude that the respect for women and police is very low, at least in this part of the community.
An aside: there’s an old computer phrase that applies just as well to people. “Garbage in, garbage out.”
If you “feed” your mind bad things, it will more likely lead to bad things. This isn’t to say that a little bit of bad in an overall body of good stuff will turn you into a vicious killer, but there is a tipping point where, if the bulk of what you internalize is bad, it will eventually lead to some bad actions. That’s just the way the mind works.
Our minds are the most powerful tool we individually possess and great care should be taken to use it well. It will be either your strongest ally or your worst enemy in your journey of life.
There are many other examples to be made, but I’ll cut to the chase: it appears that, today, respect is a one-way street. You must respect me, but I have no corresponding obligation to respect you.
I believe the foundation of all respect is the respect for life. If the value placed on life itself is low, it follows that we cannot value anything else higher. It seems like the tide has gone out on the respect for life. So, is the respect for life actually lower today than it has been in the past? Based on casual observation, I suspect the answer is yes. If that’s true, why?
If I had to sum it up in a word, I’d say: conditioning. And it starts at a very early age.
Whether in schools or in the media, we are bombarded with a cacophony of messages that, for the most part, promote self-indulgence or, at the very least, come from that perspective. I am the center of the universe and that is all that matters. Anything I want is fine, with little regard to the long-term implications or the impact on others. And I want it NOW!
I do not believe the youth of our country are being taught the same basics of respect that used to surround us all, such as:
- Love of country and patriotism
- General respect for authority
- Good morals and acceptable public behavior
- The value of the nuclear family and caring for our elderly
- Solid work ethic
- Sacrificing short-term pleasures in return for larger long-term rewards
- Saving money as well as spending it wisely
- The “golden rule”: do unto others as you would have them do unto you
There are also many areas where the “signals” are conflicting, which cannot provide good guidance to individuals. On the one hand, murder is bad… while the death penalty and partial-birth abortions are OK. Private suicide is bad while doctor-assisted suicide is OK. The lack of consistency leads to confusion, especially in young or weak minds. And, where there is confusion, there is chaos. Chaos, by definition, does not produce predictable results.
What our country really needs is a “back to basics” movement.
