A sad reflection, but understandably so. I was just talking with a work colleague on how the Irishness of my family, present in my surname, has been totally erased over the past 3-4 generations. Just nothing. Their assimilation to "America" has been to a universalized capitalism and business ethic, or individualism. They are drifters who have homes but no connection to a community. Suspicion alienates them from a larger ethic of sharing, the common good, and group efforts bigger than the family unit. No form of traditional religion, good or bad, is present in their lives. The God of the Selfish Dollar, and a cult of personality surrounding a singular prominent political figure, are all that remains.
Well said sir, especially on what they were assimilated to. I am lucky that my family has stubbornly stuck to community values and belief, but as you say, all of their cultural heritage is gone completely. I had to go to college to learn about German culture! What you say about everything being hollowed out except the dollar and a certain leader is true of a lot of what I have witnessed. We need to talk, since I think the true enemy right now is the nihilism you speak of. All the bad things flow from it.
A sad reflection, but understandably so. I was just talking with a work colleague on how the Irishness of my family, present in my surname, has been totally erased over the past 3-4 generations. Just nothing. Their assimilation to "America" has been to a universalized capitalism and business ethic, or individualism. They are drifters who have homes but no connection to a community. Suspicion alienates them from a larger ethic of sharing, the common good, and group efforts bigger than the family unit. No form of traditional religion, good or bad, is present in their lives. The God of the Selfish Dollar, and a cult of personality surrounding a singular prominent political figure, are all that remains.
Well said sir, especially on what they were assimilated to. I am lucky that my family has stubbornly stuck to community values and belief, but as you say, all of their cultural heritage is gone completely. I had to go to college to learn about German culture! What you say about everything being hollowed out except the dollar and a certain leader is true of a lot of what I have witnessed. We need to talk, since I think the true enemy right now is the nihilism you speak of. All the bad things flow from it.