Y'all Gone Make Me Lose My Mind

I already know…”Up in here! Up in here!” Shouts out to DMX; you already know how to find, listen, and purchase that song (don’t sue me dude). It’s funny because I imagine that everyone reading this probably had that same first thought. It’s also funny that those words and lyrics cross over racial groups and ethnicities because they are so catchy yet threatening. That would mean that aside from the cool older people and the naughty kids who listened to inappropriate music, that’s basically a generational type of saying. Just like when I play ‘My Girl’ for a group of 40 to 70 year olds and everybody rushes to the dance floor like ants to a forgotten picnic. Doesn’t matter what color the people are; it’s always the same thing. What that really means is that there are certain things that most people in a contained cultural generation are exposed to.

I guess my question becomes: Why is it always a song or a sitcom? The knowledge that most often permeates between people in the same generation is entertainment…that is one of the worse things I have ever typed. On one hand it is nice to know that my profession (musician) is so powerful that it can cross cultures and ethnicities, but on the other hand it is a shame that we only allow entertainment to cross those lines. Very rarely do we pass things such as morals or behaviors or beneficial characteristics along those same paths. It cannot be said that we, as a society, never passed down those things, but it can be said that we the rate at which we continue to pass these things is rolling down the chart like a cartoon snowball.

I am 35 years old (I was told that I wouldn’t make 22- sorry security guard). The generation before me would end at about 64 or 68 years old. I can really only speak to the life and times of those generations. I know people who came before the latter generation and they have long since made it to the halls of wisdom and celebration. The people that are behind my generation are too little to do anything as of yet. So right now today the only generations who can actually get things done are mine and the one directly in front of me. That is where the bulk of the responsibility lies.

Some people are not going to like this. I am aware of that and I encourage you to offer ideas to the contrary.

The generation before me is responsible for the acceleration in our slide to moral decay. That is just how it is. That is the generation known as the Baby Boomers. We love them. They are our parents, aunts, uncles, and some even grandparents. But this is also the generation responsible for filing lawsuits to take prayer out of school, denting the ritual of weekly church visits, functionally using drugs, and breaking the sound barrier on the way to divorce. It is the same generation that made making money at all costs the only way to get ahead, and also made blowing money as fast as humanly possible the way to disperse it. The generation that broke from “our” to “my”. There are other things that happened but I think I have made it pretty clear what I mean.

We have all been witness to the effects of the implementation of the policies and behaviors. We have increased illness, abuse, broken homes, suicides, corruption, violence, etc… We, as an entire nation, have stood idly by while the moral fabric of America has been ripped in an ugly fashion like a price tag on the box of a Christmas gift.  We have seen the discipline and respect that once resided in our schools fly out of the window with the vapors from the toxic chemicals that our schools are built on because someone wanted to lease the land to make money and lied about previous site details. At present we watch the fight between helping our most unfortunate citizens and increasing the wealth of the super- rich so that they may decide to spend enough money so people can possibly work.

My generation fairs no better under scrutiny. Because we were spoiled when the Baby Boomers achieved a decent amount of wealth, we are the complainers and not the doers that we should be. We have seen the mistaken policies implemented and been victimized by systems that are outdated or that we never took time to understand. With 20/20 vision we see the slide, maintain silence, and turn in on ourselves as if it all won’t come crashing down if we don’t look at it. Many times it is my generation that makes the most noise about a given situation and does the least amount of work to change it. Partly because we don’t want to expend the energy and partly because we are spoiled by the powers that be, (baby boomers) and they will see it as acting out instead of standing up.

We all have a responsibility to the people that will come behind us. Sure everyone wants to leave money and wealth to help out, but there are other things that are valuable as well. Character, a smidgeon of integrity, a little grit and determination, a splash of fairness, and a firm foundation in religion will fill in any gaps that are left in the dispersing of your estate. We can begin to slow the rate of digression if we begin to take advantage of being able to get information passed through the generation. If we can push songs and sitcoms, I feel quite confident that we can distribute fibers of moral strength.  Y’all gone make me lose my mind, but the truth about it is, if we don’t get it together we will look back and realize that we all lost our minds a long time ago.