It’s Not A Surprise
In the wake of a number of emails from listeners expressing displeasure about a programming change, one of my former bosses here who was responsible for the change said he was not surprised. After all, he said, you can’t have programming on all day urging people to form an opinion on topics and express those opinions…and then complain when they express opinions you don’t like to you.
As I saw video of anti-Israel demonstrations on college campuses last night, it occurred to me that we should not be surprised. After all, this is a generation that from the start has been told that their opinions matter…that despite their youth, their opinions are just as valid as anyone else’s…and they’ve been given social media tools that allow them to express those opinions without guidance or parental censorship.
They came of age during a global pandemic, which hampered interpersonal development at a key life point. And then we sent them to college in the wake of protests four years ago that included taking areas of major cities over, burning buildings and destroying public property, assaulting police officers—all without any repercussions, and with the expressed approval of many so-called political leaders who saw signing on to the movements as a way to get votes.
So is it a surprise that these impressionable folks are gravitating toward causes that welcome them, that they wear masks and block media coverage despite saying they are proud to be there and hold their beliefs, and that they make vile threats against people simply because of what they believe to be their religion, or ethnicity?
Sadly, no. Society not only allowed it to happen, but at times encouraged it. And now we have to live with what we have wrought.
There are ways to turn it around—safely, quickly, and while respecting alternative viewpoints. We’ll talk about some of those at this time tomorrow.
