And what happened in Washington has happened in the entire country. It is a major transformation of us humans who live in this country. Of the three or four generations who still live in this country, there has been an incredible change in who we are, the god or gods we worship, the work we do, our morals and values, --- it has happened gradually, and hardly noticeable for many years, but it was happening.
Now, the change is accelerating and becoming so drastic that no one who has been on this earth for thirty or forty years could fail to notice. Those who have been around for longer, say four generations, hardly recognize our country.
Take the guy who was born in the twenties or thirties. His young life was so different than his great grandson's life of today, that there's no possible way for him to relate to it; or probably to respect it.
The old guy was pretty much born into a job. From the time he could handle it, say age six, he had responsibilities. Chores to do, siblings to watch after, anything to help his mom, grandparents, neighbors,-- first paying job as a teenager, buys his first car, probably joins military, very possibly active duty at war-time. The vast majority of these guys were very hard working, probably Christian, patriotic, conservative, (even the Democrats) full of duty, responsibility, family love and pride in their own independence and self sufficiency. The men in this generation married their women, and stayed married to them. This was the main stereotype, and even most neer-do-wells admired it. There is good reason that it was called the Greatest Generation.
Compare that to the young guy who was born in say, "2000". Probably 10% of that generation has any resemblance or even respect for the life of Great Grand-dad who just passed away. And the 10 percent who do, are in the vast minority. I won't go into the differences and values of the young generation that is taking over, but just the fact that the good ones are in the minority, is what's gonna cook us. The saddest thing is that this isn't the kids fault. And it isn't Great Grandpaws fault either.
This flip in values that has occurred has been witnessed by those of us who were born in the fifties and after, and depending on where we lived, how we lived, and many other circumstances, -- we are to some degree responsible for what is happening today.
Now -- how to fix it.?? jd