You too Dr. Jim, I sent this to my father in law to read, he is Dr. Steve (retired general surgeon) he has followed along my shenanigans on YouTube and I thought this would really resonate with him. Your contrast with the moon landing and SNL was helpful.
Let me know what he says. This struck somewhat of a nerve. Expressing myself and hitting the right tone is a challenge. I respect your channel even more as I interact with the online world more.
"If the moon landing represented a culture of sincerity and shared achievement, this was the rise of a culture of authenticity, where the goal was less about living up to shared roles and responsibilities, and more about expressing one’s true self—often through sarcasm, irreverence, and cynicism."
Oh, that resonated in my mind pretty hard. I completely agree with you about this. It then becomes our collective responsibility to not get sucked into the mire, really the temptation, of cynicism and work on re-forming the world we live in. That definitely involves pushing against some central aspects of my own formation as an millenial... But push I must. Thank you for your time and effort.
Someone mentioned that the meaning crisis started with GenX. I think the internet going public became our distraction until we 'settled'. Now the zoomers inherited the meaning crisis just when every fell apart.
Dr. Jim thank you for sharing. Every little impression that has come out of the participants is a cherished gem to us who could not attend. As a boomer, your impressions resonate with me. However, as a functioning addict/alcoholic from my teens until 41, I COMPLETELY identify with the cynicism that abounds today. I KNOW that our generation is to blame and in no way try to deflect from that responsibility, when I say that fixing blame never does the victim any good. Like you said. Victimhood fueled my alcoholic mentality and in turn my lifestyle. Recovery of my value in Christ came at a cost. I had to die to self. I think Jordan Hall's wartime footing is correct. New battle skills need to be imparted. New expectations need to be realized. Old vets like you and I need to sow into the young blood the lessons that have scarred us. The band of brothers that the TLC is can be and is quite amazing! And you are in the midst of it all. God bless you!
I sense that too. I appreciate you reading and commenting. I feel like I found a little bit of a different project in this Substack world and writing rather than that. I continue to follow your content so keep it up. Thanks again.
Brought to mind for me GKC's: 'It is the fashion to talk of institutions as cold and cramping things. The truth is that when people are in exceptionally high spirits, really wild with freedom and invention, they always must, and they always do, create institutions. When men are weary they fall into anarchy; but while they are gay and vigorous they invariably make rules.'
This is great! I don’t know Chesterton well but that surprises me. I appreciate the comment more because it’s clear you get what’s important to me. Thanks.
He definitely expressed some cynicism in our conversation, but I may have overstated that a little bit in the article. He's a fascinating guy who has a lot to say and write well. It certainly means something that he moved to hungry. Thanks for reading and responding.
HI Dr. Jim. Thanks for drafting these thoughts. I was privileged to be present as one of the GenXers you describe. I appreciate this deeper expostulation of your mindset. As you have published this publicly, I trust that it is in the spirit of dialogue and offer some contrasting perspective for your consideration. The challenge I would offer to your framework of hope vs. pessimism cuts to one of the deepest critiques that my, and later, American cohorts offer the ‘Boomers’ . It is that your generation is self-absorbed and cannot seem to accept responsibility for damage that your cohort has wrought (e.g. Sexual Revolution) and continues to wreak (e.g. COVID lockdowns). What feels merely like optimism to your generation looks like unbridled self-regard and arrogance to later ones. This shows up in a lot of ways, but the decay in trust in institutions is not due to episodic failure, but of unaccountable, wanton harm to the institutions that you all inherited. And this harm is not simply to institutions, but has sweeping effects across the whole of society. These institutions (e.g. traditions of Religious practice, Social mores around sexuality, stewardship of cultural inheritance) came from your parents and they were rent into tatters by self-important zeal and the casual discarding of the many cultural fences of which G.K. Chesterton warns. Some examples: the sexual revolution, the preoccupation with self through self-centered psychologizing, the ongoing distortion of economics because of your numbers, the unjustified lockdowns of society in response to COVID-19. To be clear, my own generation has its own sins to answer for: disengagement through cynicism, rootless globalism, hedonism. Having offered all of this, I also want to stress that generational guilt/ glory seems to be itself a construct more of modernism and particularly found its voice with the Boomers. This type of group assignation of traits erases the splendid tapestry of human personality in all times. It ‘otherizes’ entire groups based upon when they arrived in the world and this is surely a fact of everyone’s life in which they had no agency. I was a bit sorry that Rod characterized the voices at the table through this lens. As a Christian, I know that we all have fault. I appreciate the spirit in which you offer your perspective and I thank you for writing up your reflections honestly. Our in-person discussion was frank and respectful and that is something to celebrate in our time when both are scarcer than they should be. I offer these comments in the spirit of that discussion. I am now a subscriber and I look forward to reading your perspectives on various topics.
Gustav, thank you for reading and for taking the time to respond with such candor and care. I recognize the force of your critique, and I don’t dismiss it. One of the challenges I’ve discovered in writing here is how easily a strong point can become overdrawn, even at the cost of fairness. In this piece I leaned too heavily on characterization — particularly of those at the table — to sharpen my contrast, and in doing so I lost some of the nuance that was present in the real conversation. And I realize now how that might have stung a bit in a way that is not deserved. That’s on me.
At the same time, I stand by the concern I was trying to raise: our institutions, and the higher values they are meant to embody, are not beyond redemption. We have an obligation to participate in them, to defend them, and to guide them toward those higher values with clarity and conviction. I want to be unequivocal in affirming that commitment. In addition, nothing I have said or written should be taken to mean that I fail to recognize the responsibility my own generation bears for the ills of our present age. I do see that, even if I have not always expressed it as clearly as I should. On this point you are unquestionably right.
And yet, some of the comments you and the others made, felt to me like an overemphasis on cynicism and the blaming of others — a tendency I don’t favor. There is plenty of blame and it lands on all of us. Nonetheless, I also recognize that in trying to express this, I overstated the degree to which you and the others actually hold that position.
I value your pushback, because it sharpens my own reflections and keeps me honest. And I am grateful for the gracious spirit with which you’ve engaged. These are difficult conversations, but the fact that we can have them in frankness and respect — both at Midwestuary and here — is something I do not take for granted.
I should also mention that Jon (sitting to my left that night) sent me a DM about continuing this conversation in some form. I’d be glad to include you in that exchange as well, if you’re open to it.
Thank you
It was great to meet you, CB!
You too Dr. Jim, I sent this to my father in law to read, he is Dr. Steve (retired general surgeon) he has followed along my shenanigans on YouTube and I thought this would really resonate with him. Your contrast with the moon landing and SNL was helpful.
Let me know what he says. This struck somewhat of a nerve. Expressing myself and hitting the right tone is a challenge. I respect your channel even more as I interact with the online world more.
"If the moon landing represented a culture of sincerity and shared achievement, this was the rise of a culture of authenticity, where the goal was less about living up to shared roles and responsibilities, and more about expressing one’s true self—often through sarcasm, irreverence, and cynicism."
Oh, that resonated in my mind pretty hard. I completely agree with you about this. It then becomes our collective responsibility to not get sucked into the mire, really the temptation, of cynicism and work on re-forming the world we live in. That definitely involves pushing against some central aspects of my own formation as an millenial... But push I must. Thank you for your time and effort.
Someone mentioned that the meaning crisis started with GenX. I think the internet going public became our distraction until we 'settled'. Now the zoomers inherited the meaning crisis just when every fell apart.
Dr. Jim thank you for sharing. Every little impression that has come out of the participants is a cherished gem to us who could not attend. As a boomer, your impressions resonate with me. However, as a functioning addict/alcoholic from my teens until 41, I COMPLETELY identify with the cynicism that abounds today. I KNOW that our generation is to blame and in no way try to deflect from that responsibility, when I say that fixing blame never does the victim any good. Like you said. Victimhood fueled my alcoholic mentality and in turn my lifestyle. Recovery of my value in Christ came at a cost. I had to die to self. I think Jordan Hall's wartime footing is correct. New battle skills need to be imparted. New expectations need to be realized. Old vets like you and I need to sow into the young blood the lessons that have scarred us. The band of brothers that the TLC is can be and is quite amazing! And you are in the midst of it all. God bless you!
Your defense of institutions and values isn’t out of step, Dr. Jim. The post-cynical wave is coming.
I sense that too. I appreciate you reading and commenting. I feel like I found a little bit of a different project in this Substack world and writing rather than that. I continue to follow your content so keep it up. Thanks again.
Brought to mind for me GKC's: 'It is the fashion to talk of institutions as cold and cramping things. The truth is that when people are in exceptionally high spirits, really wild with freedom and invention, they always must, and they always do, create institutions. When men are weary they fall into anarchy; but while they are gay and vigorous they invariably make rules.'
This is great! I don’t know Chesterton well but that surprises me. I appreciate the comment more because it’s clear you get what’s important to me. Thanks.
Sad that Mr. Drehr has given into his cynicism and pursued a posture of power over others as evidenced by his embrace of Hungarian authoritarianism.
He definitely expressed some cynicism in our conversation, but I may have overstated that a little bit in the article. He's a fascinating guy who has a lot to say and write well. It certainly means something that he moved to hungry. Thanks for reading and responding.
HI Dr. Jim. Thanks for drafting these thoughts. I was privileged to be present as one of the GenXers you describe. I appreciate this deeper expostulation of your mindset. As you have published this publicly, I trust that it is in the spirit of dialogue and offer some contrasting perspective for your consideration. The challenge I would offer to your framework of hope vs. pessimism cuts to one of the deepest critiques that my, and later, American cohorts offer the ‘Boomers’ . It is that your generation is self-absorbed and cannot seem to accept responsibility for damage that your cohort has wrought (e.g. Sexual Revolution) and continues to wreak (e.g. COVID lockdowns). What feels merely like optimism to your generation looks like unbridled self-regard and arrogance to later ones. This shows up in a lot of ways, but the decay in trust in institutions is not due to episodic failure, but of unaccountable, wanton harm to the institutions that you all inherited. And this harm is not simply to institutions, but has sweeping effects across the whole of society. These institutions (e.g. traditions of Religious practice, Social mores around sexuality, stewardship of cultural inheritance) came from your parents and they were rent into tatters by self-important zeal and the casual discarding of the many cultural fences of which G.K. Chesterton warns. Some examples: the sexual revolution, the preoccupation with self through self-centered psychologizing, the ongoing distortion of economics because of your numbers, the unjustified lockdowns of society in response to COVID-19. To be clear, my own generation has its own sins to answer for: disengagement through cynicism, rootless globalism, hedonism. Having offered all of this, I also want to stress that generational guilt/ glory seems to be itself a construct more of modernism and particularly found its voice with the Boomers. This type of group assignation of traits erases the splendid tapestry of human personality in all times. It ‘otherizes’ entire groups based upon when they arrived in the world and this is surely a fact of everyone’s life in which they had no agency. I was a bit sorry that Rod characterized the voices at the table through this lens. As a Christian, I know that we all have fault. I appreciate the spirit in which you offer your perspective and I thank you for writing up your reflections honestly. Our in-person discussion was frank and respectful and that is something to celebrate in our time when both are scarcer than they should be. I offer these comments in the spirit of that discussion. I am now a subscriber and I look forward to reading your perspectives on various topics.
Gustav, thank you for reading and for taking the time to respond with such candor and care. I recognize the force of your critique, and I don’t dismiss it. One of the challenges I’ve discovered in writing here is how easily a strong point can become overdrawn, even at the cost of fairness. In this piece I leaned too heavily on characterization — particularly of those at the table — to sharpen my contrast, and in doing so I lost some of the nuance that was present in the real conversation. And I realize now how that might have stung a bit in a way that is not deserved. That’s on me.
At the same time, I stand by the concern I was trying to raise: our institutions, and the higher values they are meant to embody, are not beyond redemption. We have an obligation to participate in them, to defend them, and to guide them toward those higher values with clarity and conviction. I want to be unequivocal in affirming that commitment. In addition, nothing I have said or written should be taken to mean that I fail to recognize the responsibility my own generation bears for the ills of our present age. I do see that, even if I have not always expressed it as clearly as I should. On this point you are unquestionably right.
And yet, some of the comments you and the others made, felt to me like an overemphasis on cynicism and the blaming of others — a tendency I don’t favor. There is plenty of blame and it lands on all of us. Nonetheless, I also recognize that in trying to express this, I overstated the degree to which you and the others actually hold that position.
I value your pushback, because it sharpens my own reflections and keeps me honest. And I am grateful for the gracious spirit with which you’ve engaged. These are difficult conversations, but the fact that we can have them in frankness and respect — both at Midwestuary and here — is something I do not take for granted.
I should also mention that Jon (sitting to my left that night) sent me a DM about continuing this conversation in some form. I’d be glad to include you in that exchange as well, if you’re open to it.
With thanks,
Jim