Wednesday, November 09, 2005
Social Backlog
My elderly friend in the park yesterday afternoon asked me if I thought things might get better after the downfall of the GOP jihad. He was presently concerned about his VA benefits, but he was also worried about the direction our Congress had chosen vis a vis public investment in education and employment opportunities for the marginalized and communities of color. The recent riots across France by displaced second generation immigrants from France's former empire disturbed him, he said, because it's really little different here.
The best I could come up with in response at the time was that things are bound to change considerably in the next century compared to the former--resource exhaustion, climate change, and social corruption being the most obvious--but I think what bothered him most was the notion of lost hope on such a vast scale, especially among the young.
Looked at differently, though, profound rejection of exploitive values and aggressive culture by the socially-excluded is not only understandable, but arguably laudable. I mean, how else can those left behind stop the tram without throwing a few timbers across the tracks? So in a way, it's perfectly reasonable to resort to disorder, even violence, when one's experience of social order has been to be denied the dignity of a decent education and employment and social participation and respect for one's heritage and customs. Unfortunately, given the backlog of grievances by the world's poor and those otherwise shut out of the privileges of modern society, we have a lot of unsavory consequences to look forward to.
To be sure, there are, likewise, opportunities for cultural creatives in such a highly-charged atmosphere, and I expect to be pleasantly surprised by what the energy unleashed by innovations of conscience and consciousness produces over the coming decades. I only hope I will personally have the energy and opportunity to be actively involved in this social evolution.
The best I could come up with in response at the time was that things are bound to change considerably in the next century compared to the former--resource exhaustion, climate change, and social corruption being the most obvious--but I think what bothered him most was the notion of lost hope on such a vast scale, especially among the young.
Looked at differently, though, profound rejection of exploitive values and aggressive culture by the socially-excluded is not only understandable, but arguably laudable. I mean, how else can those left behind stop the tram without throwing a few timbers across the tracks? So in a way, it's perfectly reasonable to resort to disorder, even violence, when one's experience of social order has been to be denied the dignity of a decent education and employment and social participation and respect for one's heritage and customs. Unfortunately, given the backlog of grievances by the world's poor and those otherwise shut out of the privileges of modern society, we have a lot of unsavory consequences to look forward to.
To be sure, there are, likewise, opportunities for cultural creatives in such a highly-charged atmosphere, and I expect to be pleasantly surprised by what the energy unleashed by innovations of conscience and consciousness produces over the coming decades. I only hope I will personally have the energy and opportunity to be actively involved in this social evolution.
