Have you heard them? I'm sure you have. I don't know how you could miss them. I'm not even sure who they are. It could be that they're sociologists with advanced degrees and lots of experience in statistics, or they could be liberal journalists who love to shape society into "all it could be" *read, "all they want it to be" with the power of their pens, or iPads.
They throw around the word post in a pretty authoritative way. There are suggestions of a post-marital society (thank you, New York Times 1). There is talk of a post-evangelical society (2). It's been around a while, but you also have the post-capitalist society idea (3). Heck, they're even talking about a post-postal society! (4)
Before you say, well, of course, all those things are SO last summer, let's take a look at what you're saying of course to. Post-marital? That means more kids with one parent or no parent homes to grow up in (we're at 40% right now 5), or more deaths by abortion. I would be hard pressed to find an elementary school teacher who would support either of these arrangements for any of her students...
How about a post-evangelical society? After all, with as global as the world's becoming, we should be a little more open minded, accept each other's differences and embrace other people's perspectives on life. That's what they would tell you, all right. If you know me at all, I think that's a whole lot of ridiculous. I'm all about learning about other people's ways of life and connecting with other cultures. Trust me, I will have been on 4/7 continents in three months this summer.
The problem is when you start saying things like, "Well, I believe that God is a woman and a tree and a deer and making sacrifices of cranberry juice and vodka is the way to get to my version of heaven. I know you think that Jesus is God's Son and He's the only way to get to heaven. That's great for you, I'm really glad you found something that works." That's like saying the grass is both pink and green, whatever works for you is great. No. Sorry, that doesn't work for me. I'm not being judgmental or a bigot or any other hot-button buzzword. I'm just using a little logic. Something can't be one thing AND it's opposite.
Capitalism takes hits by all sorts of people, including Fred Magdoff, who [of course] loves to quote Frederick Engels. He says of capitalism, "As a system of possessive individualism it necessarily promotes greed, individualism, competitiveness, selfishness, and an Après moi le déluge philosophy." I'd like to translate Mr. Magdoff's sentiments for you, I think this was what he was getting at... "As a system of personal responsibility, it necessarily promotes desire for gains, market competition (you know, the stuff that drives down prices and increases quality), and a desire to benefit from hard work." Of course, we are messed up people. There are going to be people who take advantage of others and exercise their greed and hurt the environment. Do those few people warrant the takeover of the economy, redistribution of wealth and constriction of creative business solutions? I think not.
I don't have many comments on the post-postal society, except that I like snail mail.
Punch line------
Here's my point. Before you or I start accepting what people tell us, we need to examine what they're really saying. Sure they can throw out great sociological terms like "post-marital society" while they're sipping on their half-caf-sugar-free-caramel-two-shot-no-foam latte wearing their Soho-inspired cardi and slacks. Just because they look like an intellectual and speak with authority doesn't mean they're right. Think about the consequences of what they're saying before you start nodding in agreement to their politically charged sociospeak.
Much love,
Little Miss Sunshine
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