Simpler times. Or was it? I’ve said for decades that the primary problem in today’s America is that of narcissism; the act of instant gratification. With just a few clicks of a keyboard we can reach across the world to satisfy whatever desires we may harbor. Even in conversations, things we would think twice about saying just roll off our fingers across a keyboard before clicking send and calling someone a Nazi or some other vulgarity and, in some cases, even threaten physical violence. I don’t know about you, but in the time and place I was raised, if someone had said the things I have just described, it was just cause to lay hands on them and “bring them to Jesus” in a very stern way. Society had rules and norms which seem to have fallen by the wayside. Simpler times? Or was it? What has happened to those days?
A few weeks ago during an impromptu discussion at the dojo I attend, my sensei said something that hit me like a bell by putting the problem so simply and clearly into one sentence; “The gentle bigotry of low expectations.” With those six words, he said everything I’ve been saying for years in a much longer drawn out way. In those words lay the problem with the USA that have been building for over 50 years. Initially, it was directed at inner city minorities by way of public assistance which was meant to be temporary but has now become generational. As the self esteem of working for what you could earn fell away, so did the sense of worth and violence rose in those areas. The same thing also happened in the poor areas of “flyover country” in which the elites of society just wanted us to be quiet and remain in the background. The problems became expected in those areas just because it was easier to funnel a little money into them and move on to what the leaders thought were more important issues. Mankind is a flawed construct in that, as biological predators, we will only put out the minimum effort to catch our prey but, if those immediate needs are given rather than earned, why bother to hunt (work) for the bare essentials when you can focus on other needs when the society at large will not hold you responsible? After all, low expectations means lack of judgement and responsibility. When the problem became inconvenient, new laws were enacted to restrict those God given rights as enumerated in the Bill of Rights. Because violence went up; restrict the second amendment. Because protestors can become violent; restrict the first amendment. Now we have states and city councils throwing out multiple amendments like the second, fourth, and fifth in one fell swoop. Why? Because even good people can’t be trusted to run their own lives due to low expectations.
Fortunately, there are many, many people in this country who, while not having been raised with the same hardships as our parents, still grew up to remember the old ways and traditions. I will never know what it feels like to attend a one room schoolhouse like my mother did. I will never know what it feels like to have to pick cotton in the blistering heat and humidity around a swamp like my father did and live without electricity in the house until he was in high school. I’ve had it easy but was expected to be responsible for my actions from the earliest times that I can remember. All children are born as narcissists and only by tutelage do we come to understand that the world isn’t here solely for our whim but the other way around. Therein lies the problem in that so many have grown up with the cloud of low expectations that nothing was demanded from them. Now across all spectrums of social classes in the country nothing is expected from the individual who is taught that the world owes them a life, a living, and respect. Well I’ve got some shocking news for those folks; life doesn’t owe you a damn thing and respect is EARNED not given. I think I need to take a moment to differentiate between what I’ve said and the basic respect for human life. You do have a right to live and I not only respect that right but will also fight to defend your right to exist no matter how much you spit at and curse me. That said, YOU are still responsible for what you make and earn in this life. To succumb to the low expectations granted to you means you surrender all rights to what your life looks like. Furthermore, if you can’t get what you want instantly, YOU ARE NOT A VICTIM! This country due to low expectations, has created more than one generation of a victim society. Nothing is your fault, everyone who tells you no is an evil demon against your happiness and your future. You are a misunderstood social warrior fighting the evil that won’t keep you in a lifestyle that you neither earned or deserve. Guess what? You deserve nothing other than to be alive. Think you’ve got it so bad then get a passport, hop a plane, and see how people in other countries live and what their expectations are in life.
We have now come to the point in which young people are eating Tide pods and snorting condoms and will scream and stomp their foot if they don’t get their way. A society of victims that gives their rights away due to a moral relativism that shuns any sense and reason. Recently, an armed thug broke into the house of an old woman. The woman was also armed and stopped the thug ending his life. As a result of a rabid news media, there is now an ad hoc memorial set up in honor of the thug and are treating the old woman like she’s the criminal only due to the fact that she was also armed and defended the most basic freedom there is; her right to be alive. Some of you reading this are now going to react with left wing slogans about gun control and how the second amendment has outlived it’s time. This is because you’ve probably never read the damn thing in historical context. “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” The most common argument I hear against the second amendment is that it now only applies to the military. Guess what? You. Are. Wrong. Here’s a pop quiz. What was the militia’s standard term of service? What kind of rations did they get? How was the command rank laid out? How many muskets and ammunition were they supplied with? Have you written down your answers? Here’s the grading key: The militia man had no contractual term of service. They were a volunteer force who could come and go as they pleased. The militia man was expected to supply his own ammunition and weapons and also provided provided their own command structure by vote within the ranks. They had no uniform and it was by their guerrilla tactics that we won our freedom. Think that is ancient history and unnecessary to modern life? Think again. During World War II, the Japanese discussed invading mainland America. It was held off by a single voice who stated that “if we invade America, we will find a rifle behind every blade of grass.” Simpler times? I think not.
The reason I have tuned out of mainstream media to the Western channel is due to the fact that it the times of the “wild west” wasn’t simpler times. The nation was still reeling from a civil war that put brother against brother and saw some of the highest mortality counts in battle this nation has ever seen. But under it all, they were still willing to pack up everything they had into a horse drawn wagon and travel thousands of miles for a chance at a better life on THEIR terms. Nobody was a victim. You lived or died by your own hard work and resourcefulness. To the victim generation do you think you could do the same? Try turning off your cell phone, cable, electricity and indoor plumbing for even a week and see how you fare. The questions that I keep coming back to is, How did some of us escape the delusion of moral ambiguity/relativism? How did some of us escape the indoctrination of the public schools? Why are we not in the “victim” class? I think a large part of it comes from family. The core nexus of what you become is set in the early years when you begin to travel from the natural narcissistic view of a child and become aware that there are other people around you with their own needs and wants. Stamping your foot is beginning to be less effective. That’s followed up by chores/work around the house that you are expected to perform. Then school and interactions with other children. You were taught that in life sometimes you might actually loose. There were no “participation” trophies when I was a child and, if you acted a fool, you likely got into a fight which meant you might feel pain and if you escaped that, you expected it when you got home and your little sister ratted you out to your parents. You were expected to behave yourself and knew the consequences if you didn’t. None of those things seem to exist anymore. Not even in our education system. Now children seem to be taught that the world owes them everything up to and including protection which I will provide.
Earlier this year, I finally opted to join the National Rifle Association because they seemed to be the only ones in the conversation with any grasp of what the term “god given rights” even meant. Even that organization is under assault by way of slander and having it’s members called everything up to and including terrorists. The days of logic and responsibility are against the ropes. Perhaps it’s time to change the rules a little. Instead of calling ourselves freedom fighters, we should refer to ourselves as artists. After all, the Japanese developed a martial art called Hojutsu for shooting arts. Hojutsu, The Way of the Gun.
