Brock's Book Blog

We have for a large part; become a society lost in a mire of self-contemplation. A good portion of the younger half of society seems focused on feeding the self, whether through drugs, or narcissistic hedonism. The rise of violence, addiction, and reckless disregard for others unfortunately threatens to become the norm. Any attempt by authority figures to confound this is often met by howls of righteous indignation that individual liberty is being threatened. It is by default, OK to use foul language, steal, and trash public property as long as it is in the name of a “just” cause. Most often the cause of the day reflects advantage for those advocating it’s imposition on the rest of society. Little or no concern is directed towards the effect these actions, associated to cause celebre movements, have on the rest of humanity. It is apparently permissable to loot and burn, or to denigrate and abuse people you don’t agree with.  Assaulting Police and calling for the defunding (read disbanding) of Police agencies is somehow fashionable. There is a philosophical term, Solipsism, which roughly describes the belief that self-regard is paramount and more important than the rights or well being of others. When this is coupled with narcissism (love of self), such as in the case of a leader south of the 49^th, the results are plain for all to see.  The social contract, in which we surrender a certain amount of individual liberties for the good of all, dissolves. Ultimately society degrades to the point of survival of the fittest, in a brutish environment where might, physical or fiscal, makes right.

I think that part of the responsibility for society’s flirtation with the disastrous narcissistic/solipsistic decline, lies with an absence of moral training. Our education systems were once founded to teach not just learning, reading, writing, and arithmetic, but to instill moral strategy for successful interaction in democratic society. Somewhere along the way, our education systems evolved into neutral value based doggerel. With no moral guidance, society has faltered.  Love for one another, concern for fellow man, and respect for divergence have greatly diminished. A generation has turned to self-introspection, pursuit of self-aggrandizement, and heartless disinterest in fellow human beings. (It is my right not to wear a mask). 

How we escape the vortex pulling us down to a darker time is open to debate. But, who am I to point fingers. I’m just a dumb old retired cop.