The American narrative has always relied a lot on optimism. In a kind of virtuous circle, Americans are believed to have exceptional optimism, which gives us an exceptional ability to triumph over adversity. Of course this narrative was flawed to begin with: hopelessness has always existed in America too, even if masked by stronger flavors.
But kids these days! I’m not sure about the rest of the world, but many young people in America seem to be hopeless in a way that I can’t fully understand. As a child of the 60s, I can understand despair, but, as crazy as it was back then, a prevailing theme, flying above it all, was hope. Has my memory distorted things, or has something changed?
Given the multiple existential crises currently facing humankind, an uptick in hopelessness – for people of all ages – is probably quite real. Although teen angst is nothing new, it seems the Internet has changed the very nature of childhood and its stresses. The young have also been especially impacted by our growing wealth inequality. Then the pandemic hit. Recently going down a rabbit hole about The Weeknd, I arrived at the statistic of 25% of young people feeling suicidal, and realized it might actually be accurate.
The Algorithm has certainly been feeding me some extra-bleak music in recent years, but I figured it was because I once liked All Along the Watchtower. I love the fearless honesty of modern music, but as more of the big names sport dripping blood, find myself wondering: when did nihilism become the new normal?
It could be that the religious zealots have one thing right: a societywide lack of spiritual keel is causing the whole vessel to list. A secular materialist world is abandoning religion, but finding nothing to take its place. We attempt to fill the void with Game of Thrones, John Oliver, or maybe reruns of The Apprentice, but none of this quite seems to do the trick.
Back in the day, we hippies responded by concocting our own religions. People now refer to it as “New Age”, but it was never monolithic; it was a million different people constructing a million different belief systems. Some worked better than others, no doubt, and some were tragically flawed. But someone like Steve Jobs, say, had some sort of spiritual basis for his life, something that caused him to view the world with an essential optimism. We can surmise that Job’s religion was also laced with narcissism and delusions of grandeur, but, whatever its flaws, it was his, it was infinitely upgradable, and it gave him hope.
One might respond that it’s easy for someone like Steve Jobs (or myself) to be optimistic when you’re a white male living in the most privileged corner of the most privileged state in the most privileged country on earth; but it’s also true that one of Jobs’ “visions” – the smartphone – started a chain reaction of optimism that’s changed lives – often for the better – in every corner of the world. Faith, in its highest sense, can be possessed by anyone.
I’m sure there are plenty of young Steve Jobs in the world today, but it seems there are many who have no sustaining vision, and who, looking around them, have lost all hope. The world is a runaway train, barreling towards the abyss. The fossil fuel free ride is over, corrupt politicians manipulate a corruptible population, war and pandemics and climate catastrophes will fill our future until the robots replace us. God is dead: embrace the despair.
I feel almost foolish suggesting otherwise, but do anyway. To me, the amazing thing is how people rise to the occasion; and this I attribute to the “glory of God”. I don’t necessarily mean the God of the Bible or Koran or Vedas: this human resilience and resourcefulness is observable the world over, throughout history, so can’t be dependent on any particular religion. One might simply describe this God as a higher intelligence or Higher Power, someone or something prodding us towards creative solutions. Stunningly creative, sometimes.
True, this creativity can be seen throughout the natural world – even tiny viruses are “clever” – but human creativity takes it to another level. How did we get to be so brilliant? The scientist would explain that it’s an evolutionary necessity – we need to be smarter than the viri – but I suspect there’s more to it than that. Maybe I’m just old-fashioned, but it seems to me there are gods up there, looking down at us, sometimes smiling.
As any 12 stepper might explain, it’s hard to pull yourself up out of a hole without some higher help. If one expects no help, hopelessness perhaps makes sense. But if you pay close attention, it seems that someone keeps throwing down “ropes” for us – insights, innovations, and happy coincidences of endless variety and scope. We needn’t know the nature or name of this higher help to see the ropes, use them, and be thankful.
Maybe this Higher Power is some infinitely inscrutable being, playing, for reasons known only to herself, with the simulation that we call the universe. Maybe it’s just our ancestors – the grateful dead, as it were. Maybe it’s the universe itself. Maybe it’s all of the above. Since no one really knows, envision this power as you see fit – and maybe ask it for help.
I’m as overwhelmed as anyone by the adversity of life; but I guess my religion has at least a bit in common with Jobs’: alongside the challenges, I see an endless horizon of solutions. I don’t mean as in “More iPhones!”, but in a hopefulness that there’s a way forward, and a willingness to seek it.
There will always be tears in this life; but these could be separated into the necessary and unnecessary. In this day and age, no one should be crying because they’re hungry or homeless. And is it necessary to be chronically anxious or lonely or anesthetized? Possibly not. It’s important to believe that solutions exist; otherwise we won’t go looking for them, and won’t be ready to make the investments they may require from us.
Young people value brevity, so I’d better get to the point. There’s plenty of room for optimism outside the versions offered by mainstream religions. It’s a personal thing, and a lifelong journey. Start your own religion today.
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