Cheap Seats 2023 By Rich Trzupek

The Great Divide - 09/20

By Rich Trzupek
  Readers advisory: The following generalization should be considered in the context of all generalizations. To wit, describing the actions and attitudes of a broadly defined group is never accurate when considering each individual member of that broadly defined group. Generalizations are useful when attempting to identify trends and when engaging in humorous banter.
  With that in mind, let us consider some broadly applicable generalizations that involve passing the torch. As a boomer, when I first hit supposed adulthood with all the responsibilities for the fate of humanity that implied, I took a long look at myself and where my self had come from.
  Please note that I never actually believed that my attitudes or actions could uniquely influence events in the civilized world. I thought then and I’m certain now that my efforts are that of a very minor contributor. That’s true of the vast majority of us and that’s a good thing. Real and effective change is always incremental, and should ultimately be about consensus not compulsion.
  And so as this boomer advanced into so-called adulthood in the late 70s I looked back and reflected. That glance into the rearview mirror was not solely about my particular parents. It was rather about where my folks fitted in within their particular generation and, by extension, how they and their generation influenced the future for better or for worse.
  The scars that the Great Depression left on my parents were still evident when my folks raised me during the 60s and the 70s. Clearly it was a monumental national trauma that I could never personally fully appreciate. As clearly, it deeply affected a generation. I don’t think any single event came close to influencing the way my parents and the vast majority of their generation approached life and influenced the way they attempted to prepare the next generation for the world.
  Here’s how that played out for me as a young adult. My grandparents immigrated (legally, by the way) from Poland in the twenties and settled on the southeast side of Chicago, looking to find their piece of the American dream among the smokestacks of the booming steel industry. Despite the Great Depression, they led successful lives, growing more prosperous and passing down a legacy of stubborn self-reliance to their kids. And their kids, in turn, passed that legacy down to us.
  So, whenever I look back at my parents’ generation, I have thought about all the things they did right that helped move the world along to a better place than it had been. They weren’t perfect. Nobody is. But they done good. When I think about them my approach is to reflect on everything right in my life and to say “thanks for the gifts you passed along” that helped make that happen. There are exceptions of course (see the warning about generalizations) but I believe this has been the way generations have looked at past generations throughout history.
  Contrast that with what we see among the generations now emerging in leadership positions throughout modern society. The “progressive” attitude towards previous generations is the exact opposite of what we have known. The modern progressive looks back and concludes “here’s everything wrong with my life and it’s all your fault assholes!”
  Certainly there are plenty of young conservatives and people of faith who don’t share that attitude, but it is disturbing to think they are a minority, perhaps even a relatively small minority, within their age groups.
  Finding nothing of value in the generations that proceeded  them, it’s not surprising that the goal of the young progressive today does not include honoring and building upon the work that was done before, it is rather to demean and destroy. They aren’t interested in building anything. Their time is entirely taken up by finding others to blame for their woes and perceived woes, and figuring out ways to tear down institutions that hold a society they despise together.
  It’s sad. Sad for them and sadder still for the generations that will follow. The mess that they are creating in our big cities across the nation is appalling. I fear that it will become beyond anyone’s power to clean up, sooner than we can imagine.
  Email: richtrzupek@gmail.com