The Big Deal

I have a concern here today, and its sort of like REM's [the group called Rapid Eye Movement], “Losing My Religion,” but on a grander scale.  Today, we are losing our mores and values as a culture of people, living in a multicultural society.  Now, this might not sound like much to some of you—but if you were a little older, you would know the benefits of having an older brother or sister, or talking to a father or mother about significant things.  Top on the list of benefits, is the familiarity with customs (or ways of doing things) and/or procedures; aka, the knack of things: "Doing this sort of thing will get you that, this will get you in trouble, etc."  Second on that list, is heritage and traditions which were passed down through generations—aka, the Myers family has always done things this way, the Johnsons have always done things this way—Black people in America have always done things this way; that type of stuff.

The primary reason for being concerned, is that today many children are not finding this type of stuff valuable.  There is a growing urge for many of today's youth, to come up with their own way of doing things.  Yes, every generation, in their youth, were a little rebellious—however, generations which came before seem to know that, "There's nothing new under the sun" or that which is considered "innovative," is really a new twist on old things.  However, today's youth seem so very unaware of this phenomena—either that, or they just don't want to believe in it.  Everyone knows man is composed of past, present, and future phases; societies and civilizations have them as well.  Simply put, you can't know where you are going, if you don't know where you've been; the future is built upon such concepts: It is called improvements.  If you don't have any prior knowledge of things, then you are encountering things with a certain naiveté.  True, experience is the best teacher, but wise advice can save you considerable time and bruises.  That's where the benefit of having parents and siblings come into play; this is where extended family and community come into play—to provide you with the accumulated experiences of your whole family.  Family customs often contain extracted knowledge and wisdom from the underlying significances of their encounters; it's basically a knowledge of what came before, to better equip you for life's little "surprises."

Nevertheless, our youth aren't willing to take advice from the generation before them; they seem far too willing to be ambushed, by the "hidden dragons" that surround making decisions.  They seem to be unaware that there are predators out there, who will take advantage of a person's inexperience with the art of persuasion.  Many are sexually ambivalent.  They enter into their adult life, with less coping skills than the child who accepted the rearing provided by their parents, their community and their siblings; no wonder there are record numbers of depression among younger generations.  They are not sure of what their social responsibility is to each other as members of a generation, relationship, or family.  They are far-too willing to disregard the social taboos of a given society, but far less willing to take the backlash that comes along with it.  It would seem as though, they are waiting for the world to admit it was wrong and adjust the stigma and attitude, so they can feel comfortable for violating the mores and values of that society (as absurd as that might seem).  In short, today's youth are simply ill-equipped for the world they're living in—subsisting mainly in a pseudo-fantasy world of Facebook, Twitter, video games, and smartphones--viewing adult movies made about retro-super heroes and high-tech special effects; having no recognition of who created these worlds, their ulterior motive was in doing so, or the consequence of their habitual participation in such things.

Every man (and woman), has a right to decide their own destiny; and in this judgment there is no fascist posturing.  Bob Marley said something to that effect, when he wrote the lyrics to his song about the liberation of the so-called African country of Zimbabwe.  As a matter of fact, all cultures may have different or varying approaches to a great number of things, we believe to be true—and that is perfectly normal.  We do not have to argue about that; Each person or nation should be able to consider, put their theories to the test, and see what the results bring about; and if it is not too crucial—we may even learn to live with the fact that others (people, cultures, etc.) don't see or do things the way that we do.  However, in terms of a culture versus an individual or group of individuals—should the persons be problematic to that culture or should it present too many issues in which the culture or society finds that those type of views uproots the society's core values—then, ipso facto [by the facts themselves], those views are detrimental to that society; and therefore has no place within that structure.  Even within the United States, political heretics are often put to death or banished from the country [Assata Shakur is one such example].  Man is not an animal or automaton (although some Whites believe otherwise); he is not a slave to instinct: he can chose to do otherwise: However, culture is a structural confine, built off of the consensus and experiences of group of people; and when these experiences are socially accepted—they become tradition.  It is all right to challenge that tradition for its veracity; to keep things upright, but the results must be a more appropriate finding—one we can all live with; one more in keeping with the truth.

There has always been ethnocentrism in the world; an ethnocentric view, is a view based upon the ideas and beliefs of one culture; often used to judge other cultures.  In some aspects, it's a little like how a person views his or her self-esteem: Everyone believes in their mind, what they are doing is right or the most appropriate thing; under the circumstances—however, the reality may be far from it.  Now, really, everybody has the right to believe what they want to believe, and none can stop this process from occurring in other people’s thought processes.  This idea, however, does not become a problem, until we interact with each other and therefore have to come to some consensus or agreement, as to what works between the two of us; then, that is when we find out who is who and what is what—and/or run into conflicts in philosophy.

When we look at what is happening in America—in terms of its sexual revolution—a lot of it has European/Viking traditional behavior and Western class structure overtones (which should come as no surprise since it's ruling class originates from European caucasian stock).  No one can question the influence of France upon the total outcome, because they have been liberal in that regard.  Anyone who has ever viewed the movies Victor/Victoria or Liza Minnelli's Cabaret, knows England and Germany has had its share.  In the movie, Midnight Express, there's evidence of a Scandinavian encounter with such values.  Although I can't say much about Russia, or the Slavic Nations, because I grew up amongst the "Iron Curtain" era and forced to a certain amount of naiveté.  Nonetheless America's sexual revolution is a revolt, and certainly, there can be no war without financial backing—and to this point, the rich is definitely culpable; in terms of both proclivity and financing of such causes.  One has only the personage of former Vice-President Chaney's daughter and Rock Star Cher's daughter, to consider the possibility.
   

In the creative fields, there has always been a proclivity for those of the alternative sexual persuasion, to flock to its outlets; particularly in the area of fashion, interior design, theater and movie making, dance, architecture, etc.; Therefore as numbers increase, more product will be produced, which will reflect such values (or lack thereof); given adequate resources (such as financial backing, desire, etc.).  The same goes for literary and scholarly pursuits, as a means of promotion.  These things appear to be making so much leeway, simply because it involves Whites, which make up the majority of Americans, along with the rich—which has the most influence in American politics; Why even minority of Whites is greater than the whole Black population in America. . .  However, just because more movies and sitcoms are made on the subject, by those who have the financial backing, does not mean or translate into, social acceptance of the part of members of that society.  In some cases, it can merely mean that something is being constantly “shoved down our throats” by the more affluent, simply because they have the resources to do so.  

There's a large number of people in America who recognize that every person has a choice to believe or choose what they want, however, if understanding is what those who choose differently are looking for—I seriously doubt if they will ever get it; There are too many social, political, religious, cultural, scientific, economic and ethnocentric reasons why it won't.   Most will agree to disagree and be politically correct—but this will not translate into social acceptance—just silence on the subject.  But in this case silence does not mean acquiescence.

We can never lose track of the fact that Blacks in America and Western or White America are two entirely different people.  We are two different people, and since slavery, American society has been dictating and altering our destiny with Western values.  However, our ethnicity is neither tacit or fluently understood in this country—despite our long sojourn here [since 1555].  All our struggles in this country, has been struggles trying to get the Western man to be fair and just to our people, while considering our point of view.  Whites in America have their own heritage, customs, and traditions, and this ideology or philosophy is not like our own; in many cases—these differences might be diametrically opposed to our way of considering things.  Not that there's any thing wrong with that; each can have their own point of view—but tolerance, acceptance and understanding are wholly different topics.  Just the fact that we have French speaking neighbors to one border, and Spanish speaking neighbors to the other—and yet, most Americans only speak one language, says volumes about American understanding.  Grouping a destiny of one of it's ethnic groups (Blacks), along with issues concerning America's opinions on gender and sexual preference (all being labeled Minority), is another.  This act shows a gross lack of sensitivity on the subject, on the part of the American government.  But the reason why more consideration can be given to the topic of alternative lifestyles, lies in the fact that it has always been included in Western culture, socially, politically, and economically—what we are experiencing is the American explosion.

The way that Europe looks at alternative lifestyles, has never been the way that Central Asia and the Middle East views the same subject.  In a movie called, Little Big Man, the Cheyenne people [a particular sect or tribe of Native Americans], upon experiencing a man who felt womanly intimacy towards another of the same sex—simply chose not to give the act a name, nor accommodate him in the sexual considerations; just considered his spirituality!  The Cheyenne did not deny that the phenomena existed within their society, nor were there major repercussions from this male not undergoing their rights of passage; they simply did not label his proclivities, because it had no place in their society structure.  He was free to pursue life as he saw fit, but his actions were not absorbed into their cultural structure.  However, this is not the case in terms of Germany, England, France, Switzerland and Nordic or Viking culture—nor was this the way of ancient Greece or Rome.   As a matter of fact, all Europe has a different perspective than the Cheyenne people concerning this subject of alternative lifestyles.  To me, Europe displays a lot of sexual ambiguity, where this topic is concerned—but that’s their prerogative: different from mine—but definitely their prerogative.

Ever hear the statement, "It's my world, you're just visiting?"  This is essentially Black people's role in America: The problem is, we go through identity crises on a continual basis, as a people: we keep forgetting to behave like bystanders to American activity.  Most foreigners never lose track of that fact.  They come to America, committed to the hustle—not the wantonness that Americans call freedom.  Most Chinese do not seek to integrate.  So called Africans migrate here for the earning potential to support their extended families.  Most Eastern Indians are committed to firm mercantile practices.  For these people, learning American practices are a part of navigating; not assimilation.  Neither Europeans or White Americans are in the practice of amalgamation; only utilization of other indigenous peoples to further their own interests.  Whites are quite different and most of the world knows this.  They set the trends, they follow their own path—and most of the unsuspecting get sucked in for the ride.  Our Black ancestors who were adults during Segregation knew better.  They were not being feed promises of amalgamation during the segregation period, they were being punished for wanting to be free, as opposed to working for nothing.  Racism and bigotry was not hidden, it was down right blatant!  Most of the time, Whites took advantage of Blacks because of their ignorance or inability to ask the right questions or be circumspect enough.   Some of elders are still leery of hospitals and White doctors operating on them. . .  Many of our ancestors remember what happened to Charles Drew, as well as the Tuskegee 626 project. They live during that time.  They know what happened before.  Do they know something that you don't?  The glitches in American society are destroying its own people, and many of us are also going down in the flames; thinking themselves too, as being Americans.

If following my line of reasoning in this article has become more difficult for some you, let's view this from another angle: Each human being on earth is composed from 46 chromosomes; 23 chromosomes  are derived from the male sex cells (sperm) and the other 23 are derived from the females sex cells (ovum/egg) during sex.  Despite popular belief, the real purpose of sex is for reproduction; and in this regard, spit cannot make babies.  Ones chromosomes are composed of DNA and RNA strands which are known as the instructional code for all the cells within the human body!  When it comes down to the brain cells, those chromosomes are the gene pool through which tendencies are drawn; to carry on with continuity of the family and the people.  The responsibility of the parents is to acquaint the off-spring with what came before; that is, before the child got here; the times before and the chronicles of what led up to such things.  The nature of a scientist, or one who knows, is to make predications based upon an extrapolation of the known.  Parents prepare us by teaching us how to speak, write, acquaint us nursery rhymes, philosophy, antidotes and coping skills, how to behave and keep continuity with the society we are incarnated into; in other words, general civilization.  Each parent—themselves—is an off-springs from their different families and philosophical perspectives.  And If done properly, if the union endures; both the father and mother will be the linchpin which unites two families—making the child is the product of such a union. 

If family lineage is a lineal descent from an ancestor (and it is), then all it’s off-springs are a progression, a sentence or line from the "statement" that the ancestor is or represents.  It stands to reason that the ancestor should guide us, since the family line is his statement; and he knows what came before which composes what we see here.  And the two lineal statements, which the families represent—are united—through the child; by means of both parents. . .  Our parents and our older siblings are more inclined to have encountered what we are destined to meet, than our resourcefulness to efficiently handle something we have no previous knowledge of:  In other words, if we don't get guidance from our family, we are walking through life and various ambushes, blindfolded, and wondering why we keep tripping!

Today's twenty-year-olders are stumbling through life, tripping, trying to make it up as they go along; without a clue as to how these things are constructed, or will be the impact of their decisions in the future.  Generally, today's young will not take the advice of a person or sibling four years their elder; often screaming out, "I know, I know!"  Well, if you know better, then why don't your results reflect it or why don't you do better? After all, if you don't want the effects, don't produce the cause of the problem or issue.  But that's just it; no one wants to take responsibility for being the cause of what happens in their lives; often lying to themselves and blaming it on someone else.  Civilization is knowledge of what came before, being passed onto the youth to improve upon and make better ways for their children.  Most youth are not thinking about forming families, which is further cause of concern because families are what signals civilization—and without it we plunge into savagery.  And this doesn't exclude you thirty-something year olds. . .   At least, when we were experimenting, we had our parent's advice in our rear view mirror. 

  

I am concerned, because this "make it up as we go along" attitude leaves our youth open to predators who take advantage of naiveté.  Half of the things they are experimenting with, they won't find out until much later why it was so taboo to us "old heads."  Compounding this problem, is we live amongst caucasians in a world where they rule and we are subjected to their trends and madness.  Many of our youth take on their folly, as though the White world includes them and will protect them, but it doesn't.  Their world is dying and many of us are going right along with it, because we are not prepared to take on our own weight as a Black nation living in America.  The coast is not clear.  There is still prejudices, racism, bigotry and discrimination for you—just because you're Black; minus your naiveté that you will be protected by your American rights.  Our youth are relying on the world to be run by others, while they take advantage of all the advantages; without ever having to work for it.  Maybe that's the new parents fault for giving them too much without their children earning it; or the children's fault for being so ungrateful.  But they are certainly acting as though the world will co-sign their ignorance and foolishness by picking them up when they fall.  They are certainly in for a rude awakening.  But by then, it might be too late.  Some may even die, because of refusal to plug into their resources and heed warnings—due to their opinions, oppositional defiant disorders, and feelings of wanting to do things their way.

Here's my new word for today: 

ignoble |igˈnōbəl|adjective (ignobler, ignoblest)1 not honorable in character or purpose: ignoble feelings of intense jealousy.2 of humble origin or social status:ignoble savages.DERIVATIVESignobility |ˌignōˈbilitē| noun.ignobly |-blē| adverb



Hope you benefit from my acknowledging my new word and wisdom  

Thank you for your consideration,

C. Be'er la Hai-roi Myers 

Peace.