Parsing an Ungrateful Generation

January 25, 2023
Parsing an Ungrateful Generation
By Allan J. Feifer


You can already tell by our title the direction this piece is going.  
But it's much more than just a bunch of selfish crybabies.  Today's story is about a fundamental shift in how the country thinks and acts, whereby we have lost another critical piece of what made us unique. 
Let's step back for a moment, and I'll share a story highlighting the problem as I see it.
I live in a small rural county run by a five-person Board of Commissioners. Virtually every decision of consequence is made in a consensus-focused manner.  During one of the recent department reports, commissioners were advised that some employees had been put on standby status in case a quick response was required to a recent cold snap. The department head acknowledged that employees would be paid if they were called to work. 
But a dispute followed over whether employees should be paid for "standing by" in case of need, whether ultimately activated or not.


I argued that the essential nature of public service employment is that they might be inconvenienced from time to time, but such emergency call-ups were or should be part of their job description. 
A decision was not reached, but it made me think. 

I've employed individuals continuously for nearly fifty years. During that time, I've seen a change from gratitude for employment to an attitude that turns the relationship on its head.   
Today, employers bend over backward to accommodate the needs and seemingly arbitrary desires of hires to a degree that would have been unthinkable in years past.
A recent Fox and Friends program featured employees quitting their job without notice and even going so far as to place their joyful resignations on TikTok!  

It seems there is a not-so-subtle disdain for employers in general, and it's cool and hip to "shove it to the man," so to speak.  Of course, not all employees behave in such a manner, but too many no longer feel loyal to their employers.  Indeed, a lack of gratefulness or partnership is much more common than I can remember in my lifetime.
The situation with my county commission and TikTok antics highlight an absence of gratitude.  

Our historical work ethic is now associated with White Privilege.  The White Privilege war has become the go-to weapon the Left has embraced to destroy traditional American society and families.  Those people whom I term the 'Destroyers' accuse the government of being predicated on a virtually unchallenged assumption that America was formed, run, and exists for the benefit of white people in general and privileged whites in particular.
Quitting your job without giving the standard two-week notice (or more if you are in a critical position) is considered by molly-coddled younger workers to be nothing more than leveling the playing field. The prevailing thinking seems to state that companies are exploiting their workers through the very requirement to show up for work.  Many of those young believe they have better things to do than punch a clock or make money for someone other than themselves and detest the inconvenience of having to work for money.  To them, this is literal proof of White Supremacy.
How did this come to pass?  Growing up in the '60s and early '70s, I was anxious to work.  I wanted to build businesses and create opportunities.  I wanted to hire people smarter than me, not to exploit them, but to create wealth and prosperity for all of us.  And I did.  I speak to many entrepreneurs who still believe in that pathway.  Still, large companies, government workers, and many non-profit employees have been inculcated into an anti-free market culture and subsequent entitlement and victimhood. 
Fortunately, many good old-fashioned workers and employers still think and act as I do.  However, the contaminated individuals who believe the Left's tripe can and are pulling the rest of us down. 
Here's an analogy to explain how this will inevitably come to pass:
Remember the Titanic?  She would not have sunk except for one flaw; its watertight bulkheads were not sealed at the top.  So, as the water rose in one compartment, it spilled over to the next compartment and then the next until it was inevitable that the Titanic would founder and sink.  I believe it is now that way with our country.  Attitudes toward work, family, savings, debt, and entitlement are like flooded compartments, ultimately sinking our ship.  
In addition, millions of illegal aliens are like surging water overtopping the nation's bulkheads, leading to the ship of state sinking rapidly to the bottom.
But unlike the Titanic, we have a little time to find a solution before it is too late.  We could right the ship if we tried hard.  The question is, will we?  On one side, we have the people, institutions, companies, and others intent on reinventing the U.S. into something foreign and unworkable.  On the other side, we have the silent majority.  President Nixon popularized that term in 1969.  Why don't people speak out in defense of their self-interests?  The fact that so many are silent is telling.  Many of the remaining producers remain modest and frugal, keeping to themselves, be that church, social circles, or even immediate family.  That silent majority is quite the opposite of those individuals shouting their opinions loudly and often to any target they think is a threat to their view of how the world should be as far as they are concerned.
In my life, each day, I pray to do something "decent and right" that will help someone that day.  In an imperfect world, it is up to the individual, not the government, to make this world better than how we found it.  Government interferes with our duty and obligation by trying to be something that it can never be…Daddy.
Distortion of reality of all kinds, exhibited by millions, is a condition I will call 'Woke Brain.  It is observable within those mentally weak or adrift from reality who are disengaged from traditional life requirements that have defined us since our inception. 
Wrongheaded thinking derived from decades of brainwashing has left us where we are today.  Can you believe that 18% of those under 34 don't believe we landed on the Moon?  Think about that!  This statistic encapsulates everything you need to know to understand what's wrong with our society.  Those naysayers don't believe we went to the Moon because they can't imagine they/we could do it again today based on their observations of lazy society, waning intelligence, and the drive among their friends.  Add to that a deep distrust of anything and everything that constitutes our collective history and culture. 
Their starting point was 1619 when slaves were first brought to America, which the New York Times now says defines us as a predator nation to this day.
Millions of our young live with a profound distrust for America, its systems, fairness, and perhaps, even a question of how long the America of their parents and grandparents will continue to exist. These issues constitute the root cause of our current predicament and where we must collectively make our stand.
God Bless America!
Allan J. Feifer is a patriot, author, businessman, and thinker.  Read more about Allan, his background, and his ideas to create a better tomorrow at www.1plus1equals2.com



THANKS TO: https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2023/01/parsing_an_ungrateful_generation.html