Opinion/Morse: Never trust anybody under 30 – The Providence Journal

Michael Morse| Guest columnist

Michael Morse (mmorsepfd@gmail.com), a monthly contributor, is the author of "Let There be Light" and other books and a former captain with the Providence Fire Department.

A spirit of rebellion is in the air; people are questioning authority, standing up to government overreach, rejecting forced narratives being preached over the air and social media waves and following their instincts. When something feels wrong we trust common sense earned through experience and question the source, expose the frauds and celebrate the truth when and where we can find it.

This is a different kind of uprising than any in our history. The forces that seek to discredit us, and ridicule our beliefs are strong. They are united. They are relentless. They are absolutely certain that their way is the right way, and no matter what we sayor how much we reason, our words fall on deaf ears.

They are our children. It seems we just cannot trust anyone under 30.

This oppressive regime that we created has managed to create misery out of opportunity, racism from equality, censorship over free speech and oppression over liberty has decided for all of us that fun is a thing of the past. Until everybody thinks and behaves alike there will be no progress. Garage bands that shouted teen rebellion into quiet neighborhoods have been replaced by lonely kids in basements laying down computerized beats for other lonely kids to rap over.

A fun night out is no longer a keg party in the woods, Its an edible enhanced protest against something they have never experienced, led by people who are using them for leverage.

The adults in the room have literally fought for liberty, civil rights, freedom of speech and the right to bear arms. We have survived decades of unrest, upheaval, numerous shifts in political philosophy and a few wars. We have worked for minimum wage, and paid our college loans, rented crummy apartments in crummy neighborhoods and somehow survived. We figured out how to navigate the world as it was presented to us.

We paid 18% interest on our first mortgages, worked second jobs, then another on weekends, treated those around us with respect and never considered blaming our elders for our problems.

But more important than all of that; we did not forgot how to have fun. Life can be miserable, and it can be great, all in the exact same place. When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change. People over 30 know how much fun can be had, and spent vast amounts of time figuring out how to have it. Nobody gave it to us, we made life fun.

I hope that some day soon the Malcontent Generation will figure things out, and stop demanding and start living. It is by enjoying what those who came before us have created that we progress. Being obsessed with righting the wrongs of the past leaves one stranded in a quagmire of irresolvable rage. Embracing the progress we have achieved while acknowledging the sins of our past, and then working toward making the world a better, more harmonious place, leads to a far more satisfying existence.

The amazing American Experiment has led us to this moment. We are 330 million individuals free to lead our lives to the best of our ability. Our republic gives us freedom from the demands of the majority. We do not have to go along to get along, and that is the beauty of this place.

Never in history have people from every corner on earth, in every shape, color, religious belief and orientation lived together peacefully under the same set of laws. We are a work in progress. Engaging in battles between races, genders, generations and sexes squanders so much, and accomplishes so little.

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Opinion/Morse: Never trust anybody under 30 - The Providence Journal