ORTEGA'S NEW BARBARIANS: THEY ARE HERE!

JOSE ORTEGA Y GASSET

Bend over and spread em, girl,

Show me those---------pearls,

Rub that a-----and play with that c---,

You know I like that freaky s---,

I like the way you lick the champagne glass,

It makes me want to stick my ---- in your ---,

How hard? Hard like a rock,

When you make that ----y pop!

FROM RAP GROUP 2 LIVE CREW

These memorable lyrics are all too representative of what is more and more heard over the airwaves these days. Sadly, they seem to go along with statistics that show that 11.5% of American women have experienced sexual violence.

It may also be instructive to note that comparative scores of secondary-level students in the industrialized world show that Americans rank 15th in reading, 24th in math and 21st in science. It goes without saying that this is likely to give one pause in attempting to understand how such could be possible in the U.S.A.

With the multiple distractions of a perverse and pagan popular culture, it is little wonder that much attention is given to the likes of Snoop Doggy Dog and others of his ilk who seem to capture the attention of America's youth.  Somewhat enlightening, too, is that recent college graduates are more readily adept at identifying Snoop Doggy Dog (98%, in fact) as a premier rapper than they are able to identify James Madison as the "father of the Constitution" (a mere 48% were able to do so).

Jose Ortega y Gasset (1883 - 1955) was a Spanish philosopher, writer and observer of societal trends.  It was Ortega who defined existence as one is oneself in reality as one exists within the context of himself and circumstance.  However, Ortega is perhaps best known for foreseeing the ultimate fate of Western society as resting in the hands of the "new barbarians."

For Ortega, there would eventually come a time when the traditional institutions that had historically civilized the masses, e.g. the church, the school, the family) would no longer be able or willing to serve that purpose; and, to the detriment of society, the result would be masses of new barbarians who would have not the slightest idea of how society had evolved, nor would they have any inclination  of striving in such ways as to maintain and strengthen the traditions that had  supported and sustained previous generations.

In applying Ortega to the culture spawned by society in the 21st century, the future looks quite dismal.  New generations, poorly served by an educational system which has been dumbed-down and overwhelmed by attempting to absorb vast numbers of students who have not been inculcated with Western values by their families, will be easy marks for politicians whose agendas do not include maintaining a strong America.  May God help our children and grandchildren!