When different generations argue about the best athletes, modern fans point to superior conditioning and longevity, and the old folks counter that if yesterday’s stars had access to current tech and comforts, they’d be even better today. It’s no different with morality.
Besides, this unearned superior attitude always seems to coincide with proclamations that the world is ending.
Every generation loves annihilating the collective experience of the previous one while canonizing their own. We look at the accoutrements of modernity, with its gadgets, conveniences, norms, hygiene, appropriateness, and think we had something to do with it all. We believe that the world is the way it is because of our presence, that everyone worked hard behind the scenes like The Truman Show to ensure that by the time our mothers thrust us out bloody and screaming, everything would be up to our standards.
“He’s almost here!” someone must be yelling while putting up wallpaper. “Get that iPhone 16 ready and remember calling without texting first and assuming gender is now wrong.” It’s all been ordered instantly here for us, and not the uncertain product of decades of sweat and hardship from those who came before. To be born in previous eras would imply that we belonged there, totally accustomed to the norms and wrongdoing at the time, and perfectly fine with the anachronistic way of life.
Except we would have gone along with it all, and not known any better. This idea that we’re superior to all those who came before us is nonsense. We look back at older eras with their prejudice and violence and poor tipping, and imagine ourselves as the one person doing the right thing, the lone wolf fighting against the tide. Not likely. What COVID and modern wars, and the evergreen mob mentality, have demonstrated is that we are as steeped in conformity as ever, and easily swept up in hysteria.
Phone lines were created to tattle on so-called aberrant behavior during COVID, and mom and pop businesses were needlessly destroyed to the benefit of monopolies allowed to stay open. Many are often perfectly willing to acquiesce to any war the government pushes, depending on who’s in charge. And the mob mentality, once behind tar and feathers and public hangings, is now simply more sophisticated, destroying careers, reputations, families, and the ability to speak. Charlie Kirk’s recent murder, though obviously horrific, sadly feels like the outburst of an always-present venom from those who hated his ideas. It’s why many of the gross celebrations are disturbingly prevalent.
Granted, some of the above examples are extraordinary circumstances. But that’s the point. Every time we’re pressure tested, we fail, and show we would have submitted to societal injustices of past eras because we tend to do the same now at every opportunity. It’s why we have the clichéd joke about going back in time and assassinating Hitler. Because it’s people’s way of avoiding the uncomfortable truth that had they existed in an actual authoritarian system, they probably would have served it, not opposed it.
Maybe you’re not the guy trying to kill Hitler, maybe you’re the one turning in the would-be assassin like a damn quisling. Since we never had to struggle for the freedoms we enjoy today, and are barely able to maintain them, it’s ridiculous to assume we’d have the strength to fight for them in the first place. The world may be better, but we’re not.
This logic is no different with tech. How many times has a slightly older person received a smug smirk at using outdated technology or lacking the ability to use current versions? Constantly. Yet most people today have no idea how any of it works, could never explain basic scientific principles if summoned by aliens. And God forbid, if some catastrophic event sends us all back to zero, many of those administering the smugness would have no ability to survive on their own, start a fire, change a tire, hunt for food, build a shelter, or do anything that previous generations were much more familiar with.
But you’re great at TikTok filters, congratulations.
Sure, the older generations may exude a stubbornness in the face of evolving tech, and yet it’s mirrored by the naive arrogance of those who blindly adopt every so-called advancement without considering consequences, and chide anyone who doesn’t immediately hop on. For instance, AI generators often suspend critical thinking and plagiarize all forms of craft, and the workforce may never catch up to the damage. So while the products of AI look like a cool future now, it may set us decades back. Make sure you tie those pots and pans tight to your donkey.
In actuality, we’d likely be far worse ethically than previous generations during their times, because we have access to advancements that often mollify the stresses of survival, and have not used this elevated position to improve our collective character one iota. We’ve rolled it back in many places. Numerous studies show that a growing number of Gen Z are accepting of political violence, and with immigration and foreign policy, ethnic tribalism still plays a major role on all sides of the issue (which is somewhat understandable, as it’s naive to think we’ll ever evolve beyond such concerns). In nearly every example, there remains the desire to hurt the “other.” A candidate doesn’t merely become popular because of the things they promise to do, but who they promise to seek revenge on (see the NYC mayoral race, for example). (RELATED: Charlie Kirk’s Assassination Exposes a Generation in Crisis)
Alice Walker’s phrase “We’re the ones we’ve been waiting for” perfectly captures the deluded sentiment many have. It posits that the current generation is finally here to save the world and shepherd humanity to a utopia only they can usher in. But not only would they have no ability to bring us to the place we’re at now, they’ve reversed much of the actual progress that was made, failing to understand that history is never done, and we’re always a few missteps away from barbarism.
Besides, this unearned superior attitude always seems to coincide with proclamations that the world is ending. It’s obviously not because they really believe that; it’s simply ego in thinking that such a monumental event would have to happen during their lifetimes. Of course it won’t, and there will be endless new generations to look back and be glad the ones we’ve been waiting for are no longer here.
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