The longer you live—assuming
you’ve not taken leave of your mental faculties—the more you witness history
repeating itself. Of course, there is always the possibility you are only
fooling yourself, in which case, you’ve regressed and become a magical thinker.
Magical thinkers
are not critical thinkers. They rely on primitive instincts and suspicions. They
are not difficult to spot. Scientific facts, logical reasoning and critical thinking
is a foreign to them as modern technology would be to the Dark Ages population.
You may recall
from history lessons that during the Dark Ages, which spanned from the fall of
the Roman Empire until roughly the turn of the first millennium, the majority of
humans relied upon almost exclusively on mythology and suspicion.
At no time since
the days of the Dark Ages has a major segment of contemporary society yearned
to return to its past. Shortly after the collapse of the Roman Empire, it is not
difficult to imagine people wanting desperately to return to a time when life
was better.
Not unlike the
Dark Ages, we have high unemployment. Depending upon how you want to jiggle the
math, as much as 24 percent of the adult population is unemployed. Another huge
chunk of the population is underemployed. That’s the bad news. The tragic news
is that as many as three million domestic job openings go unfilled. American
industries are screaming they don’t have qualified bodies to fill those openings.
The magical
thinkers are quick to point fingers of blame in all directions. The government
is too big, labor unions are too demanding, the teachers are not doing their
job, and taxes are too high. These rank among their highest suspicions.
In reality, of
course, none of these—or any combination of these factors is to blame. You
cannot tell this to a magical thinker, however. Again, scientific facts,
logical reasoning and critical thinking are foreign to their post-modern suspicions.
Magical thinkers
fixate on returning to the past—strikingly similar to those living in the Dark
Ages wanting to turn back the cosmic calendar to the glory days of the Roman
Empire. Anyone promising to perform that magical feat will earn a magical
thinker’s admiration and devotion.
Folks, it ain’t
happening. You do not have to be a Darwinist to conclude that those who fail to
adapt to their changing employment environment will not survive. If you find
yourself struggling in the job market while three million jobs to begging, you
either adapt and embrace change, or face the reality of being left behind.
Future
historians may well look back upon this era as the re-advent of the Dark Ages,
but I assure you it will pass. Progressive and creative thinkers will
inevitably break the bondage that links us to our primitive mentality. Welcome:
The brave new world has already arrived.