Quoting from Baltimore’s essay:
“I think that the major failure is our inability as parents to pass on our culture to our children.
“I say “inability” because I truly believe that parents want to do better but do not know how. One reason is the downgrading of family life in the two-wage-earner home, another is the speed with which technology changes how kids spend their lives and how people communicate; yet another is a lack of will when it comes to imposing discipline on children. And one that particularly galls me is the denigration of the word “stress.”
“When I grew up, we worked hard, played hard and never thought to minimize our activities because of stress. Sure, people were under stress and some cracked under it, but leading a “stressful” life was honored because of the accomplishments that could be achieved by those who could handle it. Today we deify the spa, not late hours solving problems at school or work. High-achieving faculty and students are seen as weirdos because of their intense focus, but even at a university like Caltech, some graduate students and postdoctoral fellows are seeking a more balanced life.”
So what do you think? Our local paper illustrated this all with a US hare asleep against a tree, being passed by an Asian tortoise. Do we really need to buck up and get to work? Or is Baltimore just an old codger blaming the youth of today for the problems his generation has left us with?