This is an important essay. Of course, it’s not just kids who become infected by crass behavior. I’ve noticed society at large becoming more corse. Evidence of that is the relative lack of coverage or discussion of Lil’X’s behavior in the Oval Office. We know that little kids of that age can only parrot what their parents say. That it shows Musk is so classless and negligent as a parent to use such language around their child is bad enough. (I never heard my father use the f word until I was 20 years old during the summer I worked with him as a painter’s helper on a paint crew. I nearly dropped my brush, I was that startled. My dad said f…?) But it also shows that Musk is plotting against Trump. He’s actively building the case with someone, we don’t know who, to label Trump an illegitimate president, and the only reason for that is to depose him. Granted, maybe he just fumes around the house while he’s drinking schnapps and tweeting on Ketamine. But it’s just as likely the kid is overhearing conversations. If the media wasn’t so afraid of crossing Trump we would be hearing a lot about it.
Yeah, the bit about the kid calling for the president's ouster could definitely be a separate article. I think a lot of us suspected as soon as Trump "won" the election that the tech bros "had a plan." Trump's current level of incapacitation is being well-hidden from public view, but I believe that's getting harder to do given his condition. Thank you for the comment!
It will take a sustained generational role by parents and society in general to undo the toxic mindset you speak of. Racism didn't die out after the Civil War racists died: they inflicted it on their children who passed it down to the present day.
It's worth remembering the proper response to Popper's Paradox of Tolerance (Google it): mutual tolerance is a social contact not a moral imperative. Those who preach intolerance aren't holding up their end of the contract and therefore aren't covered by it. The tolerant aren't obliged to accept others' intolerance.
I recall the story of the family who held their kids hostage inside that two story house for years. One day one of the older ones escaped and ran next door for help. Long story short, they were eventually all freed. Yes, this society is sick, yes our young are living as hostages to white nationalism, but all they need is a tiny flicker of hope, one sign, one urging from an inner voice! We must be that sign, that voice, that neighbor. No one wants to live in bondages! Freedom is a natural instinct.
You posed an interesting, "what if". Would weekly fireside chats from Biden minimized the anger in the country? I have trouble answering this question because I always liked Biden.
It is disturbing this new masculinity. I prefer an old fashioned model like Tim Walz.
This is an important essay. Of course, it’s not just kids who become infected by crass behavior. I’ve noticed society at large becoming more corse. Evidence of that is the relative lack of coverage or discussion of Lil’X’s behavior in the Oval Office. We know that little kids of that age can only parrot what their parents say. That it shows Musk is so classless and negligent as a parent to use such language around their child is bad enough. (I never heard my father use the f word until I was 20 years old during the summer I worked with him as a painter’s helper on a paint crew. I nearly dropped my brush, I was that startled. My dad said f…?) But it also shows that Musk is plotting against Trump. He’s actively building the case with someone, we don’t know who, to label Trump an illegitimate president, and the only reason for that is to depose him. Granted, maybe he just fumes around the house while he’s drinking schnapps and tweeting on Ketamine. But it’s just as likely the kid is overhearing conversations. If the media wasn’t so afraid of crossing Trump we would be hearing a lot about it.
Yeah, the bit about the kid calling for the president's ouster could definitely be a separate article. I think a lot of us suspected as soon as Trump "won" the election that the tech bros "had a plan." Trump's current level of incapacitation is being well-hidden from public view, but I believe that's getting harder to do given his condition. Thank you for the comment!
An excellent column.... I saw this on Kate Morgan Reade's Substack this morning and it fits here:
“You must cherish one another. You must work — we all must work — to make this world worthy of its children.” - Pablo Casals
The "adults" are failing our kids.
Thanks, Susan, and for the restack, too. The adults are failing each other, as well, I'm afraid.
Oh this so saddens me and confirms my determination to fight this coterie of evil
It will take a sustained generational role by parents and society in general to undo the toxic mindset you speak of. Racism didn't die out after the Civil War racists died: they inflicted it on their children who passed it down to the present day.
It's worth remembering the proper response to Popper's Paradox of Tolerance (Google it): mutual tolerance is a social contact not a moral imperative. Those who preach intolerance aren't holding up their end of the contract and therefore aren't covered by it. The tolerant aren't obliged to accept others' intolerance.
I recall the story of the family who held their kids hostage inside that two story house for years. One day one of the older ones escaped and ran next door for help. Long story short, they were eventually all freed. Yes, this society is sick, yes our young are living as hostages to white nationalism, but all they need is a tiny flicker of hope, one sign, one urging from an inner voice! We must be that sign, that voice, that neighbor. No one wants to live in bondages! Freedom is a natural instinct.
You posed an interesting, "what if". Would weekly fireside chats from Biden minimized the anger in the country? I have trouble answering this question because I always liked Biden.
It is disturbing this new masculinity. I prefer an old fashioned model like Tim Walz.