Hey Joe,
I've read Deer Hunting with Jesus and most of your posts. Can't say there's much in any of what you say that I disagree with. In fact, I'm with ya.
Which brings me to the issue at hand. Curmudgeonliness. A good, healthy outlook, given present circumstances. I put myself squarely in that category alongside you and most of the really "aware" people I know.
But I'm a 62-year old teacher, working hard to help the next generation be readers and critical thinkers and perhaps contribute positively to the world. And somehow it seems to me that the curmudgeonly take on things just doesn't work for the young. Cynicism (or at least a robust skepticism bordering on pessimism) in those of our advanced age seems the only reasonable perspective to me. But in the young, it is sad, defeating, and tends to dim their inherent idealism (if it hasn't already been crushed by their direct circumstances.)
So, my question to you is this: how to convey to the young that vigorous skepticism that we share, without killing every ounce of optimism and idealism -- one of their main contributions to the culture at large?
I sure would appreciate your take on this.
Cheers,
Marilyn
Colorado
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Marilyn,
Well, we are in different positions in life. While I often find myself speaking to young people at universities these days, I don't have to show up every day and teach them. Most often I am there at the sponsorship of the sociology department.
I simply speak as honestly as I can, stay in the moment with the very real young people who are out there in front of the podium. I try to talk about the world as we are experiencing it, but I don't try to teach anything or impart any message. I don't try to say what is going to happen in the future, but I do talk about what I see happening in the present, and ask how they see what I see. I do not try to entertain them. I assume their competency, with allowances for youth, of course. Moreover, the young people seem quite capable of netting it all out to suit their needs and ends. Or not. I usually get invited back. Students write me for months afterward. So I dunno.
To me the object is connectivity, simply being there face to face with other human beings and having a legitimate intellectual and moral experience. I find humor to be a great asset. Not contrived humor, but rather letting the enlightened spirit of philosophical levity prevail. That I have an immature juvenile sense of humor helps a lot.
And I definitely squash any deference to me in any way, not to make them comfortable, but because it makes me feel weird and nervous. The key for me is making sure they know from the outset that I am as ignorant as everyone else in the room. And certainly not academically skilled and agile as their young minds are. At one college I failed a written test on my own book, Deer Hunting With Jesus! That got rid of any "The Great Man comes to speak" bull shit, I can assure you. But I try, and by example maybe they conclude it's worth it to make a sincere effort in the world, and maybe not accept everything at face value.
So, I really don't know what to tell you. All I know is my own experience.
In art and labor,
Joe
