Two articles recently on the internet suggested millennials
are not supportive of long-held beliefs and attitudes of our American past. The
first is capitalism. The second is socialism or communism.
People will say these two topics are the same. I think not;
at least the way millennials think of these topics. I sense they first think of
the well-being of people in general. They see the excesses of capitalism and
seem to support protections from capitalism. Similarly, they may not fully
understand socialism or communism, but they get the concept of ‘community’ and
its positive values.
Community is not communism; nor is it socialism. To claim
the opposite oversimplifies the terms.
I get a strong sense that millennials want people to live in
freedom to explore their own lives, thoughts, talents, sources of pleasure and
possibility. I do not get the sense that millennials would allow harm to come
to other people just so they can live their freedom.
To state it in the
positive, Millennials, I think, believe each person should be free to explore
their own boundaries and potential if it does not harm another person. This
definition avows the positive value of each person and how this may inure to
the benefit of society in general.
Should negatives appear while living this belief,
millennials would agree to commonsense rules to protect the innocent. Of
course, they see themselves as innocent and to be protected. Thus, freedom to
own and drive an automobile comes with commonsense regulations. Traffic laws
are supported. Good manners in traffic are supported. Cooperation among drivers
in many contexts is supported. You get the drift?
I feel confident they would also support commonsense laws
regarding gun ownership and the use of guns. They will see guns as useful to
protect and defend the self and others. They will not see guns as a right to
force someone’s will onto another person’s life. Thus, laws will restrict use
of, and ownership of private guns and ammunition. To protect and preserve. That
is the call of the millennial.
I am not a millennial. I have not done any research on
millennials. I have granddaughters who are millennials. Next time I see them, I
will talk about this blog post to see how far off the beam I am. Or not! I
think and hope I have it right, however.
I work with different ages of people. Many are millennials.
Many are not. The differences among the age groupings are emerging. In time,
they will be much clearer. But a strong sense of meaning is present.
Community is a concept in which everyone gives up small
increments of freedom temporarily in order to gain the strength of the group.
“No man is an island.” “It takes a village to raise a child.” Astounding truths
reside in both those quotations. I get it. I think millennials get it as well.
Community does not mean communism. Or socialism. But the
idea that no one ‘owns’ things to the exclusion of others is a fuzzy concept
building within the millennial mind. Thus, a corporation ought not create a
monopoly or oligopoly in order to control prices of products and services
provided by such organizations. It is wrong for price gouging to be allowed.
The air belongs to no one person; it is needed by all. Preserving air quality
is a right and thus a freedom to use it for sustaining life. It cannot be
abused by some for their benefit at a serious loss of health to others. Same
goes for soil, water and prevailing noise levels in our environment.
We live on the same planet. We must share what the planet
offers. For the good of all. This is commonsense, not communism.
If you own a house or car, for the length of time you do own
it you have exclusive rights to use it as you see fit as long as your use does
no harm to someone else. When you cease ownership in the item, it is available
for someone else to use exclusively just as you did. In this sense, you and I
have rights of ownership. But it comes with limits to protect the rights and
well-being of others.
The relativism of the terms – capitalism, communism,
socialism – or any other ism, requires commonsense acceptance of restrictions.
Perhaps what we need is a serious education on ‘community’.
May it begin today.
November 9, 2017
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