Even if those differences are defining, the are certain things, certain threads, that wind through the ages — traditions that each generation can claim as having in common with the last.
Slowly, though, bit by bit and piece by piece, those traditions have been whittled away until the society we have today is a mere shadow of a moral, law-abiding and decent society, and instead is rife with selfishness and avoidance.
The latest victim in this societal reset is a formerly cherished organization, one that at one time helped mold teens into young men while imparting useful skills — the Boy Scouts of America.
Many of us, myself included, were part of scouting. The Boy Scout field book was required reading for just about every young man, and those lucky enough to join were able to learn valuable skills that went beyond camping. Those lucky enough to attain the rank of Eagle Scout also learned pride and giving back to a community, as they were required to finish a project that helped out their town as a whole.
Granted, they’ve had their problems, and recently had to reorganize via bankruptcy to handle that. While that may seem to some as an indictment and reason to change, it also shows that over the years the organization has endured attacks and infiltration from a variety of nannies and other people who somehow decided that an organization that helps boys become men was at best discriminatory and at worst an affront to the triple deities of DEI, ESG and wokeness.
So as a sop to the current zeitgeist, the organization has decided to change its name to Scouting America so everyone enrolled will feel included and welcome and puppies and rainbows.
This isn’t the first organization to fall to the pressure of society’s need for validation. It won’t be the last, either, since the cabalistic thought police will find any and everything that doesn’t conform and hammer it until it cries uncle.
All, of course, with the backing of a feckless and uncontrollable government.
It happened in schools, from pre-K to college and beyond. Students no longer learn the necessary skills to function in society as an adult, they are indoctrinated in the necessary belief structure that society desperately wants to replace God (and yet, there’s no real way to fill a God-sized hole with … stuff).
Girl- and boy-only schools largely have disappeared. All public schools are required to offer equal access to programs to any and everyone that wants it, and schools were given the carrot of funding for things like Title IX, CRT and sex education.
Government, and in particular its hiring practices and grant fund requests, have moved away from anything like merit in favor of pandering to certain segments of society.
Markets like housing and grocery stores are being pushed and watched for equal treatment, businesses are being browbeat into accepting edicts for equity and inclusion, and anyone that says anything contrary is hounded into oblivion.
What we’re seeing is the complete end of American exceptionalism and individual effort and liberty and a move to a collectivist mindset. No more do people strive to become better; now many just wait around for some external force — think government — to level the playing field.
At the end of it all, there will be proper pajamas and participation trophies for all. Because pandering to feelings is more important than doing what’s right.
Tony Farkas is publisher of the San Jacinto News-Times and the Trinity County News-Standard. He can be reached at [email protected]. The views expressed here are his own and do not necessarily reflect the views of this publication.
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