Hello everyone and welcome to my blog. I’ve been trying to write this article for a few weeks now, but I was struggling to find the best way to deliver this message. I finally found what I needed and hope you enjoy this new article which is a little different from what I am used to producing.
A few weeks ago, someone sent me a video of this talented and intelligent young girl, Rose Lumane Saint Jean, a Haitian girl who is participating in an eloquence contest in France. The theme of her argument was,“ Faut-il faire passer les copains d’abord?” which translates to “Should we put others first? ”. The way she delivered the message allowed me to confirm once again something I have been saying for some time now: Today we are witnessing a degradation of society. Society has evolved into a battlefield. We have forgotten the true meaning of the word society, and we no longer know what “living together” is. What wouldn’t be considered normal a while back is now the norm. We no longer empathize with each other. We have become so reckless and even cruel; it is sad to see how selfishness and hate have really taken hold of us, and by us I’m not talking about a specific category of people but I’m talking about everyone from seniors to Generation Z.
What is a society?
In sociology, a society is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction, or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Based on this definition we can underline two words that can help us understand the essence of society : social interaction. Social interaction is any type of relationship between two individuals. Which means that if we live in society we are bound to share some things together. We’re supposed to “live” together basically. How can you live in a society without caring or having the slightest respect for someone’s corpse? Today, I have the impression that all over the world, this is a new trend. As soon as we see someone fall we don’t even check if there is still a pulse or if we can somehow save that person, but we focus more on reporting, taking photos and sharing them without any sympathy for the family. Good news does not circulate with the same frequency as bad news. We are much more interested in the negative without realizing how much it affects the mind.
In his book “Welcoming our humanity”, Jean Vanier offers us an in-depth reflection on what it means to be human. He urges us through this text to “grow” and become more human. According to him, to be human is to welcome oneself as one is, with his history and to welcome the other as he is; being human is working without fear to open up more to others, to understand and love them. If we refer to this definition, could we say that there are still human beings in our society? Jean Vanier does not specify that there is a category of people to love or to accept, but he is talking about everyone, whether it’s a loved one or someone you do not know and that you have just met. That’s exactly what today’s Gospel is about. To be human is to live together, to support each other with honesty and sincerity.
Every person needs to be in community to feel loved. This is called the need to belong (love and belonging). Abraham Maslow, in his hierarchy of needs, puts the need for belonging in third place in the pyramid. This need corresponds to the human need to feel integrated in a social group. These are the love and relationship needs of people. This naturally proves this momentum that pushes us to live together. So, where did we go wrong? What happened to the society ?
I think the problem stems from a certain abandonment of values and morale. In my opinion, there is a loss of values among young people and a problem of transmission from the parents. Based on the research done before writing this article, I could see that in the 21st century, some people still believe that this problem is due to the fact that nowadays women have “entered” the work market. A reflection that I have chosen to qualify as a sexist remark (I will leave this debate for another article). Nevertheless, I would like to add that the transmission of values is a collective work and that we are all responsible for this disappearance of values within society.
A parallel between my parents’ generation and mine can illustrate this disappearance of values. While writing this article, a friend made me realize that nowadays it’s hard to find true friendships. We make friends based on “who knows who, who is dating whom, who hangs out with whom…”. In other words, friendships are based on the level of popularity of the other person, while our parents, themselves, were just content to meet new people and have new experiences. How many aunts and uncles do we have who are just longtime friends of our parents? We can say that our generation sees everything differently. A change in perception due in large part to technology.
As you already know, I work in a local school. My job allows me to analyze young people and understand why they are in rebellion. Often I meet parents and it is easy to see how desperate they are. These parents are doing their best to instill in their children certain values and morale. However, society remains the teacher with the most remarkable impact. And with this society in which we live in, what can we expect?
Ultimately, whether or not you buy into the reasons given, you cannot ignore the fact that society has evolved and unfortunately in the wrong direction. Several questions arise from this debate: “Who are the actors in society who are really responsible for this situation?” Is it the church? School? Political leaders? The parents? Social media ….? Whatever answer you may find to this question, one thing is certain: the loss of traditional cultural values has indeed caused a total disintegration of society.
That is all for today my friends. Hope you liked this article as much as I enjoyed writing it. Until my next post, please be careful, pray endlessly and be blessed ….. always!