For We Are the Chosen Ones

“And one ring to the race of men, who above all else desire power.”- The Lord of The Rings - The Fellowship of The Ring

In the Fellowship of The Ring, Frodo Baggins inherits a ring of power from his Uncle Bilbo. Neither one of them fully understand the extent of the power that the ring holds but Frodo comes to know how powerful and dangerous it is as he is charged with seeing to its destruction before it falls into the hands of others who would destroy their world in full ignorance of what it actually means to hold that kind of power. Frodo embarks upon a journey fraught with incredible danger for him. He is nearly killed many times and the ring exerts a sometimes overwhelming power over him. Ultimately, he does destroy the ring but his journey leaves him depleted of the ability to pick up from it and live normally again. The power of capitalism and greed that we are experiencing the fallout from right now is destroying this generation. More than 150 years ago Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels realized what it was doing to societies and individuals in their time. They set about trying to create a society that would not destroy the people as they tried to make a decent living for themselves and their families. The struggle of Marx and Engles is still going on today. It has never taken hold in any generation since their time because there are not enough people who will listen to a philosophy that can negate the destruction of the modern world. Destroying capitalism’s unbridled power once again falls upon those of us who may not be able to withstand the forces of men who have sought only wealth and profit and power to the point of eliminating a future for their descendants.

The adults in America who had lived through the stock market crash in the 1920’s, the Great Depression in the 1930’s, and World War II in the 1940’s never wanted to see their children suffer through such times as they had seen. Babies born after the war grew up in a world of building up instead of tearing down. There was a new prosperity and great hope for the future. These children were the future and no one wanted them to know poverty and want or need. A great many of them never did. So their comfortable world was built for them and they had the time and the freedom to cash in on it. Unfortunately, they saw no need to keep building on that for the generations to come.

“But I got a drug and I got the bug and I got something better than love.” -from the Beck song Beercan

For a time in the 1960’s, there was freedom and fun and college and protest when war came again, but this generation did not see it in terms of patriotism and civil responsibility. This war was different and this generation was different, and the times were different. So there was a period of energy focused upon the previous generation who had gotten us into the war. They were wrong, we are right. “Make love not war.”, and so they did. Then in the 1970’s the troops were brought home from Vietnam and the children felt better. But what would they do now? They would make money. Lots of it. It was decided that there were many untapped avenues for doing so. They weren’t doing it just for the money. They were “doing it for a “s**t load of money!” (from the film Spaceballs) And thus began a 50 year quest for ungodly profits for the former “love generation” who were able to leave that philosophy behind and never look back and not remember to preserve a place for their children who would never learn about the struggle that came before them. “Nobody told us. ‘Cause nobody showed us.” (from the song Don’t Go Breakin’ My Heart.)

And now it really is up to us to fight for and insist that our elders who have left us a crumbling and broken system and society fix the damage. We are working hard to repair what we can but they keep showing us in no uncertain terms that we aren’t deserving of a good start in life. They fix nothing and break everything. They are taking away every freedom from us that they enjoyed, squandering resources, and making it impossible for us to afford a balanced life. Why are they doing that?  Because they cannot stand the fact that the future is ours and they are on their way out. They were the generation that was going to stay young and beautiful and on top of the game forever. How dare these kids expect to take over! This land is not your land it is my land and I will destroy it before I let you take it from me.  It is jealousy and narcissism from the “Baby Boomer” generation who fear the death of their lifetime in the sun that they enjoyed for longer than they were entitled to. 

So, we stand upon the mountain battered and beaten with the hope of changing what our forefathers left us with, and as we contemplate throwing the capitalist ring of power into the fire, we encounter those who covet it so much with a poisoned mind that they see nothing but how they must hold onto their prize, and they will fight to the death to keep it, hoping that the death will be of those who seek a different way. God only knows if we will prevail as Frodo did when the ring went into the abyss with the power-hungry creature who could not stand to live without it. Even if we do prevail, we will never be the same. It has taken too great a toll on us. And the spoiled children who brought us to this point will bring about the death that they so fear rather than find the courage to let go of the myth that they are invulnerable and immortal.