The Age of Not Really

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Almost any cultural epoch can be characterized by its dominant values and objectives. Each has its own specific flavor of creativity, science and religion. In many cases, of course, such easy historical characterizations -- Hellenistic or feudalistic or rationalistic -- are possible only because we are far removed from the age and have the luxury of ignoring nuances. Nevertheless, historically minded people naturally tend to see overarching self-consistencies in every age.
Later historians will have a difficult time characterizing our epoch. Perhaps we will one day come to be known as the age of globalism, in which goals and troubles (health, war, pollution, social engineering, etc.) took on worldwide proportions.
Or perhaps ours will be remembered as the Information Age or the age of unrestrained technology. From the space race to the domination of electronic entertainment, to computers, video games and virtual reality, it sometimes seems as though technology is, in our time, altering the very nature of humanity.
The possibilities may be endless; there seems to be a confusing overabundance of ways to characterize us. In my view, this very vagueness is the key. The one characteristic that most identifies us is that we have no firmly established identity. We are living in the Age of Not Really. At countless points, our lives are touched and molded by things that are Not Really what they are supposed to be, or Not Really what they used to be, or Not Really what we think they are.
Ours is the age, for example, of Not Really a meal. All through history, people who loved to cook prepared good meals so that loved ones could gather around a common table. This is what the word "meal" always meant. But our age is the age of the drive through, of fast food prepared by people who care not at all for our well being, of eating on the run, eating in front of the television, the binge and purge, nutritional consultants and Slim-Fast.
Ours is the age of Not Really a war. Our age started with the "Cold War." It continued with Vietnam, which was only a "conflict." And now, our age is punctuated by "police actions" and wars against activities (terrorism, drug use) rather than nations.
Ours is the age of Not Really an education. There are still classrooms, books, teachers and students, but a growing number of high school graduates are Not Really able to read, write, calculate, or explain why the U.S. Constitution matters.
The examples are relentless. Since the idea of lifetime commitment is gone, marriages are Not Really marriages. This in turn has led to families which are Not Really families. Some people are Not Really male or female. Professional sports is Not Really about athletics anymore. We have a criminal justice system that does Not Really protect innocent people by bringing criminals to justice. Much music is Not Really very musical. There are a host of "jobs" that do Not Really create anything of value or provide a valuable service. Those in authority are Not Really in authority, or do Not Really use that authority to give real leadership. Instead of true statesmen, we have mere politicians whose primary concern is re-election. And on and on. How did we get to this place?
The dream of the Enlightenment (the 1700's) was that people could leave behind the religious faith of the Middle Ages while remaining essentially decent and tolerant. Then they could aggressively pursue all manner of freedom, pleasure, knowledge, technology and wealth, and the world would only get better.
By the end of Second World War, Western Culture had awakened from this dream.
The dream has been replaced by a jumble of conflicting impulses. Even the most anti-religious of us has been more profoundly affected by the biblical revelation than he could possibly realize. And even the most religiously devout among us would be shocked to discover just how much of his supposed religious faith comes straight from ancient pagan philosophers.
It has become the Age of Not Really because, for all but the most simple minded among us, every possible road has gaping cliffs on either side. One can not consider Christianity without being flooded with visions of crusaders and inquisitions and fundamentalists. One can not put his faith in politics without immediately being haunted by reigns of terror or bloody revolutions that bring no real change, or corrupt career politicians, or narrow activist agendas. One can not depend on science without envisioning a mushroom cloud or a partial birth abortion. So the most profound spiritual-human hungers in us, in order to avoid feeling pointless, get pointed in a hundred random directions all at the same time: money, physical fitness, adult toys, the environment, vacation trips, the internet.
Which leads only to new reminders that this is the Age of Not Really. The money can Not Really buy anything of lasting value, the toys are Not Really that fun to play wit. The computers are Not Really a means of communicating with people; they are a way of keeping people at a distance. Those who are most enamored of the internet are, it is increasingly obvious, social misfits.
Transitional ages such as ours do not last very long. Nature abhors a vacuum. Lately, I have been spending quite a bit of time in classrooms, interacting with those who have Not Really been parented or enculturated. They know very little about the historical and psycho-social forces that have made them what they are, and they have very little interest in finding out. But they are becoming intensely interested in breaking out of the Not Really. Sometimes it takes a great deal of courage to really look into their eyes. A haunting combination of sorrow, resentment and naiveté can often be found there. The gangs in which they increasingly gather, the music that has become their mode of worship, the drugs that literally block rational thought, the utter non-interest in what used to be called "common decency," and the absolute contempt in which they hold their elders -- all of these are seeds that have been planted in the soil of Not Really. Be certain that there will be a harvest.
Of course, many will grow up, and grow up well. The next generation will no doubt produce some wise and noble people. They will be extremely wise and extremely noble, because it will be an extreme period of history.