Micro aggression is the new battle zone
What’s your pet peeve? That’s what they were called back in the day. Today, they’re considered major upheavals requiring front page news flashes and prime time TV exposure. The latest outcry at Yale and other universities is shocking. But should it surprise us?
It’s apparent that the millennial generation is the first in American history that has been born out of a mind set that children are to be worshipped. It’s seen in the community in playgrounds, at some churches and in stores, and is promoted through social media. Despite the noble desire of wanting the best for our children, this yearning has taken on a life of its own and has evolved into a culture of children who apparently can do no wrong. It seems like some parents would rather be friends with their children than disciplinarians or the ones in control. They’d rather saddle up on the side of their kids to be on the same level instead of the ones at the helm.
It’s all about the children; their wants and needs must be met at all times and not infringed upon. We should coddle and not thwart them in any way, nor scrape their sensitive egos. What’s easier... Discipline or to just make friends?
We’re breeding a generation of narcissists.
When I was a kid, my parents were fond of the expression, “children should be seen and not heard.” Frankly, it hurt my sensibilities as I tried to make sense of it. It sent a humbling message that in the presence of adults, apparently, they were in charge and kids were second tier. That sense of hierarchy generated respect. Respect for elders who had paved the way before me and who were better schooled in life.
Narcissism aside, I believe this kind of mind set is also fostering a false sense of self-importance, which lends to self-entitlement. Not only among college students, the entitlement mentality is pervasive everywhere, thanks, in part, to liberal government. This demand of things for nothing with no effort involved, just handed to them, raises, jobs, privilege... It’s an epidemic. Back to Yale. Activists come in all shapes and sizes, and there’s nothing wrong with peaceful protest. It’s
what America is all about. But what is shocking is the far reaching extent of what they protest and how. What’s also compelling is that it’s coming from a microcosm of young society that is already ahead of the curve.
Like Edward Snowden, the guy accused of revealing trusted sources of protected company information within his jurisdiction to foreigners, these student activists have overstepped their bounds. Snowden is an excellent example of what happens in a liberal education system that promotes the self, coupled with devaluing America. Snowden’s treasonous breach showed he values little about his own country. Being taught by a progressive, liberal curriculum most likely led him to distrust America and what it stands for. Add in his own displaced superiority, and he felt led to usurp job protocols and squeal on Amer- ica. Just like a little kid.
Those in the millennial generation who believe their opinions matter over and above the call of prudence, like Snowden, need to grow up. Like Snowden, some have gone to the extreme (e.g. rudely standing up to a police officer, or excoriating a professor because his philosophy does not jibe with your own). But it is no longer a civil discourse; it reeks of a whiny lack of respect and sensitivity to others that borders on malice.
The activist students at Yale and their ilk across America value little. They’ve been given so much already that they’ve become numbed to their advantages and are blindly buoyed into labeling what’s wrong with it. There is no accountability to anyone for their behavior because there never has been. Their boundaries have been cleared and their paths swept free of any obstacles or challenges right from the beginning. Hence, they are boundless and free to roam as they see fit. When you create a generational society where there is no struggle, you have to invent things to complain about (i.e. the new civil rights struggle now is every minority group who’s been offended).
And now we are hypersensitive Americans, eschewing every hair of impropriety as evaluated through a miniscule perspective. Society is growing into a battle zone; every day there is a new skirmish. Whether it’s a trumped up war on women, gays or minorities, or any social inconvenience, there is a growing manifestation of micro aggression. And it all points to a self-interest that supersedes any other.
Activists are looking for problems to expose. They feel entitled to do so for the very reason that they think they’re advanced and the rest of the world is screwed up. For a culture that worships self, there is a societal bent to avenge everything they see as wrong, even if they don’t have a clue.