Labor is prior to, and independent of, capital; that, in fact, capital is the fruit of labor, and could never have existed if labor had not first existed—that labor can exist without capital, but that capital could never have existed without labor. Hence they hold that labor is the superior—greatly the superior of capital.
-Abraham Lincoln
I first him read this on the PBS News Hour on Labor Day probably twenty-five years ago. I’ve thought of it every Labor Day since.
“Parochial isolationism requires fantasy, and it’s deadly for others.”
– Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon
“Whatever may have been my political opinions before, I have but one sentiment now: that is, we have a government, and laws, and a flag, and they must all be sustained. There are but two parties now: traitors and patriots. And I want hereafter to be ranked with the latter.”
-Ulysses S. Grant
Is it just me or do Millennials and Gen Z have much less interest in foreign policy than Gen X (my generation) had at their age? That’s a real question not a rhetorical one. My memory is that Gen X was fairly engaged with the Cold War, the fall of the Soviet Union, US involvement in Central America. The USSR seemed like an existential threat. We paid attention. Gen Z was maybe a bit young at the time, but I don’t perceive much engagement from Millennials with the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. (Not many of any age were engaged unless they were there or had friends or family who were. Were Millennials any different than our population as a whole?) Neither demographic seems particularly engaged on tensions with China or the war in Ukraine. Am I off base?
There are some things worth considering on the question of “manhood.”
(1) Putting aside the language of “crisis,” it’s entirely possible that both men and women are facing serious, but different, challenges created by economic, technological, and social change. In fact, it’s more than possible—it’s likely.
Further, it’s likely that men and women are pretty much always facing serious, but different challenges because life is suffering and change is constant. Here is a universal truth: No matter who you are, it is hard to find your place in the world.
(2) To recognize that men (and women) face (separate and different) challenges is not to say that it is a crisis that can be “solved.”
Because the challenges we face today will be different from the challenges our children face 20 years from now.
(3) What we should do—all we can do—is try to understand clearly the nature of the current challenges and try to course-correct where possible, to make it marginally easier for people in their struggle to find their place in the world.
And you accomplish this through honesty and kindness.
The first part goes without saying. The second part feels more accurate than I wish were the case:
The right has solutions to public safety problems but they’re stupid and evil, the left has no solutions but will call you stupid and evil for suggesting there are public safety problems.
– Armand Domalewski
Two thoughts: