Older survivors of the 20th century sometimes speak of the “different planet” that they come from. Being one myself, I can speak of what makes us “aliens” say this.

The boys I hanged out with in the 1940s didn’t know that they were supposed to be having a rough time because they were teenagers. Although the world was as troubled as ever -– older brothers, uncles, friends and relatives were on battlefields fighting a terrible World War II -– they nevertheless took the world and themselves as they were. What I mean is that, in spite of its tragedies and triumphs, its ups and downs, life was understood and accepted as being ultimately good in itself, thanks to God. It was not a stage on the way to something far better than life on earth, except perhaps heaven.

Was this an admission of resignation? I’d call it evidence of being aware of reality and wise toward it. A sample of such awareness came in a 1948 editorial of my high school newspaper. The student editor wrote, regarding the aftermath of World War II, “Some of our elders are leaving God out of the picture in the example of the United Nations. God or mention of Him is left out of every meeting that takes place anywhere the U.N. or its sub-branches meet. This is what we as teen-agers should avoid if we wish to live peaceful, happy lives.”

Because one’s school years figure heavily in how we think and act in life, some words about my generation’s time in school may help explain what made us “aliens” tick. The boys and girls of my high school years were resistant to “peer-pressure” and to problems of identity and loyalty that would soon creep into the public schools by way of Progressive Education, sponsored by John Dewey and like-minded reformers who were out to “dare build a new social order.” [A summary of the movement and access to greater detail, at these links.]

Most of my schoolmates and teachers were skeptical of the changes being introduced in the schools of New York City at the time. It was obvious to us that, while pleasant and more fun, the new education would hamper learning anything of serious content for life in an adult world. Presumably, this newer type of education would form better citizens in a better world. But the downslide in learning from such dumbing would adversely affect students wanting a substantive education, in preparation for a fulfilling career.

It was clear to those of us aware of the downside of this “progressive” method  of education that it was inconsistent with learning anything of real value. Of what possible value could it be for the future of any student that stepped along with the least common denominator of personal development?

According to their own public statements [see above links] the reformers responsible for the dumbing changes in public school education were on a mission to change society and transform America.

Did they succeed? Well, I’d say the results speak for themselves.

But who am I, an alien from “another planet,” no less, to be saying that America lost its prior good sense by way of a “modern” program to improve transform this country?

Before I shut up, however, allow me to point out a few pre-1960s attitudes and concepts that make sense at any time, in any place, in any language . . .

• Truth cannot be something personal, for that would void it of meaning and value.

• Most Americans, regardless of intelligence or position, held to a belief in God.

• Church leaders did not hesitate to condemn those in public office who, while professing to be Christian, acted against Christian principles.

• Those arrested for committing crimes were held accountable, not released and allowed to roam freely about with no restrictions.

• It was clear to everybody that men and women are different, and for good reason. The differences were respected and valued, not reviled or rejected.

• The sexual differences between men and women were recognized as the means of having children, a fact of life that turns marital couples into parents. Since men typically excel in fathering and women typically excel in mothering, it becomes possible for children to grow up in the presence, the attentions, and the love of both types of parent – a great benefit to all in the family.

Before the social upheavals caused by rebels of the radical Left in the 1960s, the manner of life in America was friendlier than it is today and not as mean-spirited – this, despite every form of corruption, vice and malice known to man. Life before the '60s was in fact decidedly upbeat and Americans lived their lives pretty much as they wished, not as agenda pushers thought they should. It was a time when schools were free of violence and drugs, and none of them required barbed wire fences or police guards. The right of citizens to live and conduct their affairs with minimum interference from government and non-government organizations, as granted by the Constitution, was respected and supported by state and federal lawmakers.

In short, before the social firestorm that swept America during the 1960s, this country was “another planet.” Ask anyone born before the late 1940s into the '50s – before the baby-boomer generation started running the country – if my thumbnail sketch of America before the '60s is off the mark. Having lived in that freer, far more open and natural environment, I can report from personal experience that the graph of social wellbeing in America after mid-twentieth century turned toward the bottom of any chart. Life in America since then grew increasingly more difficult and disordered, as a slew of prescriptions for speech, behavior, and thought began to stifle initiative, creativity, and originality.

I have remarked, and I repeat, that after 1960 – like “the invasion of the body-snatchers” -– America changed from a relatively free and happy land to a generally fretful and contentious one.

The crazy world we witness today is in large measure, I believe, a consequence of the fogging of young minds in school and the careless disregard for morality in the last 50 or so years. This would indicate a growing number of leaders with weak conviction and courage, aided and abetted by fake liberalism and the moral-free religion in today’s mainstream churches.

Those of us awake, regardless of generation, must let the “woke” among us know what America’s domestic and foreign enemies have done to a once vibrant, sane, and productive America.

Anthony J. DeBlasi is a veteran and culture warrior.

Image: Digital Museum, via Picryl // no known copyright restrictions