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Giving meaning to life
June 4, 2004 Last Memorial Day weekend's major event, here in DC, was the dedication of the new WWII Memorial on the National Mall. As we walked around the week before, we noticed a member of "the greatest generation" being pushed around in his wheelchair. Responding to a question from one of his companions he said, "I'm just happy to be here." We recognized two meanings in his comment. One, was to be at the Memorial that honored his service to the country. The other, was that he was pleased to just be alive. After all, of the 16 million who served, only 4 million are still alive. More importantly though, we overheard words in ordinary conversations which we don't hear much these days. Those words were "honor" and "sacrifice." It was almost like hearing another language. They certainly indicate another attitude toward life. We heard stories of leaving home for the first time, going off to places so exotic that they might as well have been going to the moon. It may be difficult to realize that, in those days, they didn't see pictures of Italy, France or Japan everyday on the television. TV simply didn't exist then. Our country was still struggling back from the great depression and, for many new soldiers, the uniforms and boots supplied by the military were the first new clothes they ever wore, since many had grown up wearing hand me downs. This was a generation that "made do" with what they had, and would sacrifice even more to preserve the right to call it their own. Whiners were sternly reprimanded with, "Don't you know there's a war on?" Compare that with today's attitudes! The lives of that generation had meaning. They knew what was expected of them and did their utmost to accomplish the task at hand. And they won. The virtues of courage, strength, discipline, endurance and righteousness that won the Second World War went on, at home, to create the greatest economic and demographic boom in history. As a result of their efforts, the harsh realities of poverty and war were mostly not present to stiffen the spines of the baby-boom generation. Indeed, their parents wanted to give them "the things we never had" and wanted to ensure that they didn't have to "endure what we had to go through." An enormous horde of children prolonged their adolescence by going to college. Evidently the challenges of affluence are at least as difficult as those of privation. Unrestrained by the onerous necessity of "buckling down and working" the new generation had the liberty to ponder "the meaning of life" and to go off to "find myself." Those who failed to find meaning for themselves collapsed into the apathetic, "bored in Scarsdale" attitude. Largely undisciplined by the daily necessity to "suck it up," a new credo emerged, "Let it all hang out." The noisily espoused "freedom" of the late sixties inadvertently became freedom from meaning as well as from discipline and standards of behavior. Let's think about this for a moment. Whether by carrying on the traditions of our Founding Fathers, living up to the challenges of responsible family life, or striving to adhere to the tenets of our religion; we have more than enough to give meaning to our lives. Yet, by throwing off the constraints of tradition and its responsibilities, what do we get? Listless, self-centered individuals unable to see beyond their own whims and appetites. That doesn't sound like happiness, but rather a constant, addicted craving for something, anything, "different." When we reject traditional expectations as "old fashioned," when we "level the paying field" so that "we're all winners," we just may get what we ask for... a life without meaning. Human nature being what it is, perhaps it will take another "reminder" like 9/11 to restore the awareness that, even in the 21st century, there are still meaningful things to which we can dedicate our lives. Peter and Helen Evans, this husband and wife team — freelance writers and speakers — teach a philosophical approach to conservatism. They are also real estate agents in the Washington, D.C., area. © Copyright 2004 by Peter & Helen Evans http://www.renewamerica.us/columns/evans/040604 Recent articles by Peter & Helen Evans:
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