I certainly can remember what it was like being 14 years old. It wasn't fun. I had plenty of people available who could lecture and preach but no one who could pull my coat, tell me what was what, point out where I was heading toward quicksand in a way that would make sense to me, and also point out a better way to go in a way that would ring true.
And here I am, more than fifty years later, still working on many of those same things that I should have gotten straight when I was fourteen, still remembering the shame and anger and humiliation of mistakes made and wrong turns taken with no one to explain to me a better way in a way that would resonate with someone recognizing that things in general were seriously screwed up.
And they are still screwed up. Far more so now than they were when I was trying to make sense out of what I was being taught while in the throes of testosterone poisoning. I look back on most of my authority figures, my role models, my supposed mentors, my teachers, and I shake my head.
Yes, they were doing the best they knew how to do. And their best was sadly lacking in preparing me for what I am faced with today in a world crumbling around us as we speak in spite of all the denial and pretense to the contrary.
Looking for the ideal "survival" knife is an excellent metaphor for what we are all faced with today. It is a welcome escape to come to this forum and discuss the pros and cons of specific tools, the ifs and whens, as if things were going to keep going along like they always have. In my opinion they are not. In my opinion we are faced with far more unpleasantness than can be found in a Rambo movie or even a Road Warrior movie.
But it is quite natural for a fourteen year old to think of meeting such unpleasantness with a Rambo knife. And perhaps a Rambo knife might prove to be of more usefulness in times to come than a 401K or a Charles Schwab portfolio or an upscale address.
In any case if my view of things proves truer than that of the television prognosticators, perhaps there are available tools to meet the situation better suited than the Rambo knife. And if that is so, those with the best knowledge and understanding might best share that knowledge and understanding in a way that even a fourteen year old with limited life skills could understand and utilize.
As I remember it, fourteen year olds don't take kindly to being spoken down to. They are keenly aware of being a klutz in many areas and don't particularly like to have this rubbed in their face. If someone is willing to overlook their faults and give them a hand up, this is greatly appreciated, but such folks are few and far between, perhaps non-existant.
I didn't like those who preach and pontificate and patronize when I was fourteen and I still don't. It may stroke the ego but it is hardly an effective way to communicate. If we aren't able to bridge the gap between us and the current set of fourteen-year-olds, what possible future is there as our society and civilization itself collapses before our eyes?
When I was fourteen that gap couldn't be bridged by shouting and getting red in the face and pounding the table. In fact that only widened the gap. As far as I can tell that is still the same today.
I did a lot of dumb things when I was fourteen that I wish I hadn't done. I've done a lot of dumb things since then and now I find myself starting to do the kind of dumb things that old men do.
Personally I think we could all use a little slack.
from Hymalayan Import !!!
