Category Archives: Social Commentary

The Overpraised Generation

I always thought that the “self esteem” movement was a lot of hooey. All of the bullies I knew as a kid didn’t seem to suffer from lack of self esteem. If anything, they had an unjustified overabundance of it.

It’s exactly the kind of untested, unsubstantiated nonsense you’d expect from the education establishment, and unfortunately, too many parents bought into it. Donald Sensing describes some of the effects.

“Get Off The Computer”

Here’s an article at the WaPo on nature deficit disorder.

I wasn’t that big on playing outside as a kid, myself, though I do remember messing around in a small woods near our house. I also used to fish at our cottage up in northern Michigan in the summer, and pick berries. But I always preferred to read.

But I enjoy nature now, as an adult, particularly when I lived out west, and there seemed to be so much more of it.

[Afternoon update]

Lileks has some related thoughts:

The reasons for the decline seem fairly obvious. The fewer kids growing up on farms or in small rural communities, the less hunting you have. The more expensive cabins get, the less access the middle-class has to the lakes, so kids don

“Get Off The Computer”

Here’s an article at the WaPo on nature deficit disorder.

I wasn’t that big on playing outside as a kid, myself, though I do remember messing around in a small woods near our house. I also used to fish at our cottage up in northern Michigan in the summer, and pick berries. But I always preferred to read.

But I enjoy nature now, as an adult, particularly when I lived out west, and there seemed to be so much more of it.

[Afternoon update]

Lileks has some related thoughts:

The reasons for the decline seem fairly obvious. The fewer kids growing up on farms or in small rural communities, the less hunting you have. The more expensive cabins get, the less access the middle-class has to the lakes, so kids don

“Get Off The Computer”

Here’s an article at the WaPo on nature deficit disorder.

I wasn’t that big on playing outside as a kid, myself, though I do remember messing around in a small woods near our house. I also used to fish at our cottage up in northern Michigan in the summer, and pick berries. But I always preferred to read.

But I enjoy nature now, as an adult, particularly when I lived out west, and there seemed to be so much more of it.

[Afternoon update]

Lileks has some related thoughts:

The reasons for the decline seem fairly obvious. The fewer kids growing up on farms or in small rural communities, the less hunting you have. The more expensive cabins get, the less access the middle-class has to the lakes, so kids don

Is This Really A Younger Generation Thing?

I’m not in the cohort discussed in this article, but I’ll often go weeks without carrying any cash. I find the only time that I need it is on business trips when dining out with others, and have to split a bill. Even then, though, we often either have the waitperson split the bill on separate cards, or I’ll be the one to take the cash and put it on my mine (after which I have cash for the next time).

Maybe the difference between me and the people being discussed here is that I use credit, rather than debit cards. I can see how it would be tough to track your balance if you charged everything to your checking account.