What Is Our Charge?: David Takeover

by, David Champignon

It has become an overused trope. millennials are lazy job hopers who have no patience for work or tolerance for bosses telling them what to do. Well for some at least part of this trope is true there is scant evidence if any that today’s young people deserve the scathing indictment some are ready to give them. 

The world is not like it was when our parents and grandparents were young. There is no war in which the whole world is involved at the same time, taking sides for and against each other. There is no draft. At the moment there are smaller regional wars that are largely being taken care of by concerned regional partners without direct US military involvement. That could change at any time but for now, that part hasn’t changed. I firmly believe right after 9/11 had president Bush declared WW3 and instituted a draft America would have gone along with it. His clarion call during that time was to go shopping. I’m not saying that the military hasn’t made enormous sacrifices but largely the sacrifices are theirs and their families alone while the rest of us just go about our day as ordinary Americans only aware of the extraordinary sacrifices others make when it comes to our phones and television screens.

In a way, we are better off than we were at the time of WW2 because our army is an all-volunteer army but it has also created a situation where the serious problems of the world are always taken care of by other people. Even from a street-level perspective when we see a fight or a rape in progress we go, “that’s sad.” and hope somebody else calls 911. “I’ve got to get to work,  ta ta for now.” 

I swear we have one side of a recent generation that is every man or woman for themselves and there’s another side genuinely trying to make things better for not only themselves but other people. Unions are fighting for better wages, health benefits, and for our current generation not to be on call with our bosses 24/7 as we hold our baby in our hands and make dinner for our families with our free hand.

 To be clear, people can do this but people shouldn’t have to. We want to be able to go to the doctor without being fired from our jobs or being forced into economic disaster. If recent times have proven anything it’s that the vast majority of the world is more resilient than we give ourselves credit for not only as Americans but I genuinely believe as a world. So as the old question goes, “Will the kids be okay?” The short answer, I believe is yes.  We must also remember that the adults in every modern generation have said that the following one will be far worse off because of their ineptitude. At this point, that prediction is as old as time itself. With my optimism noted, there are things we can do to make the world a better place without having to move mountains.

 We have to make deliberate attempts to care more about each other. We should recognize that just because Ryan pulls Susie’s hair on the playground doesn’t mean Ryan will be an irredeemable serial killer for the rest of his life. Men and women evolve their political views change, groups don’t think monolithically and  We would be better off if we didn’t treat someone’s political affiliations or views as if it were a sports team we must be with no matter what. Oh, and while we are at it can we stop using the terms fake news or alternative facts.

 It is already difficult to navigate our changing world without one’s views being willing to accept new and emerging facts. We must also recognize cult behavior when it comes to our politics. One man or one woman alone can’t fix the problems that ale America and the world despite what anyone says. Real problems require thinking outside the box and coalition building even when embracing the concept is outside our interests. The concept of acting in the interest of the common good must be re-established and vigorously defended from age to age like it once was. There is no one size fits all solution to what troubles the world but I believe what I’ve written here is a good start toward improving the large canvas that is our collective souls.

Source: 

https://www.c-span.org/video/?c4552776/user-clip-bush-shopping-quote