The Sixth week

Most of us who were there would agree that this week was a bit of a mess. We did not define the topic clearly enough and so we were never really clear in our question. That's not to say it wasn't interesting, however it was a little like someone unfurling a ball of wool and claiming they were going to produce a jumper, only to have (rather predictably) a big pile of wool that looked nothing like a jumper. The previous week we made a jumper, it was a bloody awesome jumper. We were very pleased with our jumper. This week, no jumper. 

Lesson (that I should have bloody learnt by now): Without a clear question we don't have a clear objective. 

(Person 1) made the observation: current crisis of meaninglessness consuming this generation is a result of the Baby Boomers. 

We defined Baby Boomers: (Good) So we recognised that the Baby Boomers are the generation that were born either towards the end of the Second World War or just after. The typical idea about the Baby Boomers are that they are the generation that abandons, rebels against, their parent's ideals. We see a movement away from organised religion, the emergence of the hippy movement, drug experimentation and the rock and roll generation. Further, we see the defining event of that generation being the Vietnam war where the final nail in any faith in politicians is driven into that particular coffin. 

Further, into the 80s the baby boomers do something of an about face and become materialistic, obsessed with the middle class dream and destroy the environment. They live through a series of economic booms and caught all the breaks. This, of course, is wildly simplifying things, because there are many exceptions to the rule.

Okay. So what?

(Counter argument: what's so bad about an existential crisis?) 

Definition: What is an existential crisis? What is existentialism? 
Cue a trio of my students from this year that happened to come along. Existentialism comes from the idea that there is no God, and therefore there is no ultimate narrative about life, thus you make of your life what you will. The terrifying freedom to know that it's up to you whether you succeed or fail. From this comes the concept of Authenticity; this being to live authentically to the truth you have discovered: that there is no God and that you are free to live according to your truth. Now, I don't have the time, and you, dear reader, probably don't have the inclination, but that is a little bit of an over simplification. Further, the earliest Existentialism is really Christian in origin and stems back to Soren Kierkegaard.



Counter Argument: (Person 2)  challenged the idea that there was any problem with an existential crisis. It had actually defined him as a person. Considering other ideas, and ultimately the rejection of ultimate values, had actually freed him up more than anything else. 

We didn't get the opportunity to pursue (Person 2's) point because we went back to puzzling over what we were originally trying to work out by digging through the Baby Boomer point. I raised that the objective of our discussion had to be the impact of the Baby Boomers on us as individuals sitting around the table. Knowing the consequence of history helps us understand what our own lives have been shaped by. 

If you want to understand the moment you're living in, (and thereby understand something of your own life) you need to understand how you got there. 

Then I proceeded to bugger the whole thing up. 

Instead of picking back up on (Person 2's) point about how he came to his conclusion about existentialism I threw the whole thing considerably wider. 

Further definition/clarification: I argued that the Baby Boomers were not to blame, that they were a product of the impact of the Second World War and the huge cultural shifts that took place as a result. But, I suggested, the disintegration of the community (which is at the heart of the existential crisis) begins to take place much earlier. 

In fact, I'd lay the blame at the feet of the Industrial Revolution.  


That's right, The Industrial Revolution. I know that it looks like the World's biggest segue, however it's not. I was actually going to go further and blame Spanish Gold for giving rise to the Industrial Revolution. 


Dear reader, allow me to explain and hopefully it won't lead to the same level of bewilderment as was encountered by those around the table on Sunday night. 


Where upon I lay the blame upon the Industrial Revolution while avoiding mentioning Spanish Gold.(which is actually Incan) 

It's a tad difficult to place an exact date on the Industrial Revolution, however the mid Eighteenth Century is where it's really getting into gear. 

The other significant event that adds fuel to the fires of 'progress' was the Enclosure and Inclosure Acts (it's a tiny bit confusing because, once again it's not a single event) which allow the land owners to throw people off the land so they can utilise their land for agriculture. 

The tenants displaced by the process often left the countryside to work in the towns. The greater availability of food caused population numbers to rapidly expand, which meant that within a few generations, the compensation the tenants had received was spread so thinly among their descendants that many found themselves in penury. This made the industrial revolution possible – at the very moment new technological advances required large numbers of workers, a concentration of large numbers of people in need of work had emerged, together with a food supply productive enough to ensure the workers had the necessary energy; the former country tenants and their descendants became workers in industrial factories within cities. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inclosure_Acts

The invention of the steam engine meant that huge amounts of materials could be transported to the coast for manufacture. So, instead of small cottage industry with a focus on the village and the community we see the disintegration of this because now people could send their material to the cities. They stood to make a lot of money. Thus, chuck everyone off the land so you can maximise production. What happens to the people thrown off the land? They head to the cities where, because of overpopulation, they become cheap labour. 

This is where the modern world (as we know) it takes place.

I also made mention of the mechanisation of the early part of the Twentieth Century, namely the production line, along with the union between the advertising industry and psychoanalysis, you get greater production of goods and greater demand from the people because the prices drop on everything. Add a drop of credit and bingo! The ground for enormous credit debt is sown. You get a catastrophic economic downturn, people default on their loans (this, interestingly enough kicks off in the agricultural sector when there's an over production of food and the farmers go broke - believe it or not Crash Course has an excellent summary of the Great Depression that certainly redefined my understanding of it).

Massive economic downturn gives rise to global Fascism and then... World War Two and then all that stuff and then BABY BOOMERS.

In conclusion:

So you can see that blaming the Baby Boomers for our current existential crisis is a bit... imprecise. 

Of course, when you are sitting around the table debating these things, this sort of 'skimming'  confused the hell out of people. No one really wants an extended history lesson and once people 'zone out' there's no hope for the discussion. 

Then (Person 1) brings up that minority interest groups influenced the universities and over time we get things like the Feminist Movement. At this point I'm like, whoa whoa whoa this is getting (apart from completely wrong) ridiculously unwieldy. 

After everything was said and done I got a text later that night where someone expressed that the existential crisis stuff really resonated with them and their own struggles. It would have been interesting to explore this and the associated anxiety.

Perhaps Week Seven should be: is anxiety out of control in modern society?