The Devolution of The Culture

We have a problem in our culture that neither Marx nor Darwin can fix or explain. We are devolving socially, spiritually and morally at a rate that is increasing exponentially. Right is wrong, up is down and the relativists are running the show and telling us it really doesn’t matter. Postmodernism is beginning to take its toll and the effects are devastating.

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Who would have thought a decade ago we would be faced with lawsuits because some young boy suddenly demanded to be addressed with the personal pronoun “she” or “her”? What young boy would have wanted it? What family would have encouraged it? What psychologist would normalize it? What church would have praised it?

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Recently I have been reading a psychologist by the name of Jordan Peterson. Now I am certainly not here to take anything away from Dr. Peterson. I personally think he is brilliant and he clearly has made a name for himself. But in his new book: “12 Rules for Life” he does little more than reveal that this Emperor that we call postmodernism, has no clothes! The genius of what he does is found in his rather unique ability to speak truth to power while cleverly sneaking in that long-lost value of common sense. He begins with statements like; “if you want to change the world, start by cleaning up your own room.” Yea, that makes you smile and recall some things that your mother use to tell you when she was most perturbed with some annoyance that you perpetrated on a regular basis. OK, that is exactly the point.

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The value that Peterson puts on truth, both assumes that truth exists and insists that it is not just relevant for our world today but is essential for us to return to sanity. As he says persuasively, we must turn our world “upside right”. I would add that time is of the essence.

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In Dr. Peterson’s deeply perspective and prescriptive moments, audiences laugh, finding his comments funny. At first, I found this curious and perplexing, but then someone said to me: “the comics best lines are always rooted in truth we all know instinctively”. Perhaps these comments are not so deeply perspective after all. Perhaps they are just common-sense statements causing a burst of laughter because of our own discomfort. Perhaps that laughter is facilitated simply to cover up the embarrassing truths we have buried in intellectual sophistry.

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Anyone that has not just regurgitated the party line, and has thought about many of the postmodern idioms, understands the absurdity of them. The parade marches on, the professors wave their flags, and the students submit to the uniform blur of bellicose and relativistic thought and speech. This speech, when reduced to essays and research papers are met with raves from academia. The media find these things relevant, exciting and cutting edge. The fact remains however, that just because one begins a passion filled argument with a well stated conclusion they desire to reach, does not make it true.

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While total gender equality, for example, plays well on liberal university campuses, in coal mines, foxholes and boxing rings, it rarely finds equal resolution. Yes, there are a host of things men just don’t do very well either. Despite gender blurring, we don’t nurse babies well, and even if we could, the first time the tike bit our nipple, we would be finished with that job.

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We find Peterson interesting, exciting and compelling simply because he is so radical toward radical thought. In other words: rational. After so many years of relativistic thought, rational thought is nothing less than revolutionary. Maybe this will catch on. Perhaps one day reason will rally, challenge “lack of reason”, and win, simply because that is the most rational, thoughtful and true outcome. Perhaps we will one day realize that when the extremists scream: “there is no truth”, they are asking us to believe that their statement is objectively true?

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If there is no truth, there are no conversations worth having. There are no rights, no wrongs and absolutely no morals. Anything goes. Sex, love and rock & roll prevail as anarchy. Squint your eyes just right, turn up the vinyl and you are almost back at Woodstock. We have devolved quite a lot since those days. We have dressed it up a bit, legalized our fears, and normalized immorality. Now we don’t bother with the archaic idea of the truth about such things. Truth is tentative, morality malleable and words, well they are just words. All that matters is that it is relevant. We just have no referent to measure relevant to.  No wonder our children's most common response to any statement is: “whatever”. Nothing matters. There are no standards because we have no referent.

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I want to argue that we have succeeded at defying our own common sense. Morality does not exist for us because we don’t want it to exist, even though we know instinctively that it should …and does. The pendulum of the Power of Positive Thinking of the 60’s and 70’s has swung back to its antithesis and found the Power of Postmodern Thought. This truth-less, amoral worldview is even more accepted, innocuous and demoralizing to the human condition. Our thoughts, when we have them, are not disturbed by incongruity nor the regularity of irregularities in our lives. You don’t like having a schedule, don’t wear a watch. No problem. Students are failing math at extremely high rates – take it out of the curriculum. Problem solved.

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No wonder, when we discover we cannot actually live this way that we have turned to drugs, alcohol and more and more to suicide. The world does not make sense and we need to escape it occasionally, …or permanently, in our best dreams.

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Yes, we need to turn the world upside right! We are drowning in our own vomit. It is time for some common sense. Welcome Dr. Peterson, you are a breath of fresh air!