Why is it so hard to live a life that is full of integrity? Why do all of the things in life that bring long-lasting joy seem so illusive? Why is it so much easier for me to watch a super-hero movie than to practice being a hero to my son or daughter?
When it comes to activism, it is much easier to complain about somebody else’s failures, no matter how minor, than to take a close look at my own failures, no matter how egregious.
85% of online searches are operated by Google. Even worse, 95% of mobile traffic is run through Google. For the fallout of such a monopoly, see this (https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/top-search-engines). For our purposes, it is safe to say that whatever comes up in Google is going to help us understand our culture because this is where we get our information. Late one early December, 2023 evening, I googled, “Sean McDermott 9 11 comments” and received a list that included over 10 articles that were 20 hours old or newer. The Buffalo Bills coach made some awful comments in 2019 relating 9/11 attack planning to planning for a football game. Soon after the original comments he profusely apologized. Many players that were in that locker room don’t even recall the comments - I’m sure they were focused on doing their job well and knew their coach was trying to motivate them, brushing off the oddness of the comments and going on with their job. Plus, as we are finding out, Coach McDermott’s character is such that his players didn’t take it as a serious matter. Now, in 2023, as those comments how somehow resurfaced, Coach McDermott has to re-state his regret and apologize all over again.
Next, I googled “anti-Semitism college campuses” and received only 3 articles that were within the last 20 hours. Many were already one week old and, of course, most of them were older than what happened on Capital Hill this past Wednesday (December 6, 2023 testimonies from 3 major college presidents). Where is the widespread uproar? A major college president saying that calling for genocide doesn’t break the school’s conduct policy? Well, if it’s all over the internet, Google certainly doesn’t want us to hear about it or research it. (NOTE: that college president would resign within 4 days of her comments).
This isn’t a knock on Google but rather a reality check of what we as the general public want, based on our actions. I may really want to eat healthy, but if you look at my eating habits over the past week, what will you find out? At the risk of over-simplifying, people write about, research, report on, and are apt to read about stuff that really doesn’t require much of them. It’s no secret that sports shows have moved their formats from highlights and game strategy critique to talking heads debating and fuming over missed calls and who’s the best or worst. As they talk about athletes, teams, and leagues, it’s about topics that, in one week or less, won’t matter. We want to talk about what JUST happened or what’s ABOUT to happen, not how sports gives us insight into the human-spirit or how to overcome our own hurdles or hurdles placed in front of us by others.
It’s easy to complain about the “next generation” that doesn’t seem to take responsibility for their actions or has a horrible work ethic. Yet, what are we as millennials or Gen-Xers willing to do in the middle of our own context, the only place where we can actually make a difference? Let’s stop blaming coaches or university presidents.
For an example that’s right in front of our face, literally, let’s realize that TV executives and movie producers will always follow the profits ahead of any prophets. Complaining and lamenting the state of our entertainment industry will not change that industry and will do us little, if any, good . . . unless we start dealing with ourselves and those in our home. One simple (yet hard) step is to drastically limit screen time and put loving, bold parameters around access to unmonitored phone usage by our young people. Heck, as adults we need parameters around our own phone usage, right?! What have you got to lose? What is there to gain?
Are you finding accurate, trustworthy news and information hard to find? Consider that a person willing to humbly address their own weaknesses and failures is even harder to find. Be that person who keeps entertainment and social media on a short leash in your life and your home - you’re in charge of them, not the other way around.
