One of the most glaring issues facing us as a country and a civilization is our complete lack of desire to do difficult tasks. It might well be our downfall.
Probably the most glaring example of this lack of work ethic is the battle cry at the beginning of the globalization movement; "We think, they sweat".
I cannot imagine a future world where such arrogance and frippery will be allowed us. I am afraid that we are going to have to roll our sleeves up and get to work.
Oh, baby boomers like me won't have to worry about it very much. We are too old and set in our ways to change. The ones of us (and truthfully, I question if I am in this group) who have worked for a living are too damn broke down to keep it up for long, and the ones of us (maybe me) who haven't are too damn old to bring on line now. By the time that the changes will be in full swing, most of us boomers will be taking a dirt nap.
But the changes that must be made are changes made at a generational level. The tripe being peddled by the kumbaya crowd that an individual can make a difference is going to soon be recognized as the self-serving pablum that it is. What is going to seen is a re-instatement of work ethic as the manufacture and maintenance of concrete items on a human scale. Individuals will have to work and make sacrifices as part of a group, not soloing as self-serving solipsists.
So I have been ragging my sons about their real education. Math and science are now in the fore. Nothing but A's and B's are allowed. No exception. I am also going to have to accellerate their learning with hands-on projects at home. Mostly I tell them it is time to get used to doing real things. Not pushing around digital crap and make work for a corporate master.
2 comments:
Sounds like very sage advice to me. There is going to have to be a new awaking to the fact that hard work and good planning will be what serves us best!
Lots of changes are heading our way!
In my opinion, that is one of the biggest problems with this country today. Since I was in high school back in '92, every student was pushed to go to college. Blue collar workers are looked down on. As things "progressed", we have become a nation of soft, helpless people, unwilling and unable to do even the most basic acts of manual labor. I personally know a PhD, and someone working on their masters who can't even manage to change a flat tire. If they were suddenly thrust into poverty, they'd be totally screwed, along with tens of millions of others. Helpless as babes in the woods. I'm so glad I went for my "workin' man's PhD", because there ain't much I can't do for myself. The day is coming when practical skills will be worth their weight in gold, and "intellectual" skills virtually worthless. Farmers, mechanics, carpenters, plumbers, electricians and the like will become the new "successful" people, because most folks lack even an elementary understanding of those basic skills these days....
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