There was a low tide of quiet conversations in the court
room as Judge History entered the vast chamber. The room quieted immediately until the
bailiff roared, “All rise.”
“Be seated,” the judge said before some could even get to
their feet. But, that was Judge
History. He was always considerate of
the facts and the people in his court.
But, he was also a very no-nonsense kind of guy. Pomp was just not one of his favorite
things. He was much more about
substance.
The judge took a very long, silent moment to carefully take
in the entire room - the onlookers, as well as the plaintiff and the
defendant. And, the litigants garnered,
by far, the most of his attention. He
said nothing to either. But, he stared
at each for what their body language indicated to be a very uncomfortable
moment in both cases.
Finally, the aged judge spoke with a distinct tone of
authority, “You are all here today to receive my ruling regarding the
defendant’s conduct, and by extension, his character. He stands accused by the plaintiff of being an
oppressor, and initiating unnecessary restrictions to personal expression and freedom
in society. He is also accused by the
plaintiff of intentionally creating an overly demanding atmosphere in the
culture.
“I have now, over a significant period of time, conducted a
careful examination of the facts offered in this case; and I am ready to render
my ruling. However, because of the
length of time involved in deciding this case, I am, first, going to review the
essentials of the case for all present here today and for the benefit of
summary in the official record.
“As you all know, this is the Court of the Generations. We do not try individuals here. We try whole groups of people as defined by
their time. Typically, when a case comes
to my court, it is set before a jury of previous generations which have the
benefit of experience and wisdom, and the better view provided by the high
vantage point of the long past. And, in
that setting, we decide the real worth of a generation.
“But today is different.
Today, a younger generation, the plaintiff, Generation Me, has accused
an older generation, G-Prime, also known as “The Greatest Generation” of
essentially outliving its time.
“The younger, at this point, is little more than an infant
social experiment with, as yet, no real track record of his own. Nevertheless,
he has asked that this court would declare the life philosophy of the defendant,
G-Prime, to be now, ‘Irrelevant and Non-viable.’ The plaintiff has further requested of the court that, pursuant to this adjudication, the philosophy of the Me Generation would be assigned the legal status of ‘Ascendant Philosophy’ for this contemporary period.
“The Me Generation’s interest in this legal decree stems
from the desire to more fully implement, in this present period, his own
philosophy, which has come to be known as the ‘Expedient Life-approach.' He acknowledges that this
approach is brand new and untried.
Nevertheless the plaintiff contends that it will serve the present and succeeding
generations far better than the antiquated philosophy of Generation Prime –
heretofore known as ‘The Principled Life-approach.’
“In the consideration of this case, I have necessarily
studied both approaches very carefully.
As a result, I have been able to reduce both philosophies to their prime
tenets and their extant societal products.
“I will begin with the Expedient Approach of the plaintiff,
the Me Generation. As the name of his
approach indicates, the Me Generation holds a very loose and liberal view of life,
feeling no responsibility to anything which has gone before. The prime tenet of this approach is very simple. It is this, ‘Everything in life is subject to
the whim of my convenience.’
“Under this approach, there is nothing more centrally
important than, ‘I,’ or, in the objective case, ‘Me.’ There is nothing of consequence before ‘Me.’
And there is nothing of consequence after ‘Me.’ ‘I’ decide.
‘I’ choose. ‘I’ assign value to
all things. That, in a nutshell, is the
life approach of the Me Generation.
“And then, there is the old man’s way. The Responsible Approach of G-Prime is
one of selflessness, duty, honor, and faith.
The prime tenet of this approach is also simple. It is this, ‘Seek out and obey the higher
good - always.’
“As a result of this powerful commitment, Generation Prime
has expected a great deal of himself. He
has required of himself discipline, principled living, charity, and a true faithfulness
to high levels of responsibility. In his
time, he has often even made the ultimate sacrifice in service to the greater
good.
“So, after having compared the philosophies of these two
generations, this court is ready to hand down its ruling. And I would begin this way. Never in all my days of judging the
generations of men, have I noted such arrogance and insolence as in the plaintiff of this case, the Me
Generation.”
At that statement, the plaintiff visibly bristled. But, Judge History was having none of
that. He pointed his large, thick, and
very authoritative finger at the plaintiff as if to say, "Be very careful what
you do or say next.” At this gesture,
the plaintiff melted back into his seat without a word; and the judge continued.
“This unmotivated and self-absorbed generation is nothing
more than a whippersnapper. And, while thinking
himself to be so ‘special,’ in truth, he is completely unimpressive, merely living
a pretense of maturity like some teenager who still sleeps with his teddy bear. With few notable exceptions, by any objective
standard, the plaintiff has amounted to nothing more than a spoiled brat with
technology for a toy.
“The Me Generation only ever measures himself, by himself;
so, he has a world view no bigger than himself.
As a result he knows nearly
nothing of the past; nor does he see where he’s going, or the larger and longer impact of
his actions.
“Even now, his childish, Expedient Approach to
life
is eating away at the vitality of the very societies which sustain him. It is destroying the time tested values
which have provided mankind with a positive vector from the beginning of his
existence.
“This untempered approach of the plaintiff allows for no
universal principals by which human behavior can be gauged or governed going
forward. His approach asks nothing of
humanity, and produces nothing of enduring worth in humanity – no quality of
character, no principled conduct, no self-discipline, and no worthy
ideals.
“Rather, it steers human kind directly toward baseness,
minimalism, and selfishness. I can
easily predict that, if left unchecked, under the influence of this philosophy,
humanity will soon completely lose its way.”
Judge History then locked eyes directly on the Me
Generation; and with a withering stare, he uttered these words. “Young Sir, you are a very great fool!
“Sadly, it is not the prerogative of this court to
pronounce judgment upon you at this time – else I would gladly do so. But, know this: your time is coming. You will be back in my court, as are all
generations.
“And you will be measured, not by yourself, as you so
foolishly choose to do today. But you
will be judged by the wisdom of God and all the ages. And, I already know that you, with your small
and self-indulgent approach, will fail that judgment.
“And when you do, I will take great pleasure, before God and
all of the generations of time, in setting The Great Record straight by pronouncing
yours to be, indeed, a generations of fools.
And I will do so with this justification: You could not even recognize the worth of the
noble example which was just ahead of you - and simply emulate it.”
And then Judge History turned to the defendant, The Greatest
Generation, G-Prime. “Sir,” he said with
a note of deep respect in his voice, “I regret that you have been so misjudged
by this whippersnapper generation. But, this
court does not misjudge you.
“You are, indeed, a generation set apart, a generation who
has set the bar for all generations. And
this court happily affirms, this day, your worthiness, your nobility, the
continuing worth and viability of your approach to life, and your honored place among the generations. And it is yet our hope that this young
upstart, and many to follow him, may finally recognize and employ your majestic
ways.”
And with that, Judge History dropped his gavel and
announced, “Case, dismissed.”
