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I retired from Saudi Aramo 16 years ago in 2003 and returned to live in the United States.  In those years, I came to realize two important points, among others, about life in America.

First, I saw a coarsening of American life: in our social dialogue, in our television shows, in our movies, in theater, in art, and virtually every aspect of our society and culture.  This coarsening continues unabated today, and many people revel in it, and there appears to be no end in sight.

Second, I concluded many Americans have bought into this coarsening of our culture because human beings go along to get along, so as not to upset the apple cart.  There is a more profound element to the second point as well, and that is that most people want to be seen as “hip” and “with it,” and not as old fogies.

Age is no longer respected in today’s America because the cult of youth now dominates many aspects of our culture. From at least one perspective, the Baby Boomers want to remain as adult adolescents in their actions and activities, their speech, and their dress.  Men and women in their 50s, 60s, and even 70s now sport tattoos, body piercings, and hairstyles that no one would sanction in years past.

I was born in 1943 in Philadelphia and raised there until I entered the U.S. Navy as an Ensign in 1966.  For those years in Philadelphia, I lived in a neighborhood called Mt. Airy, where neighbors were aware of what was happening around them and who was doing what, especially the children.  We knew the store owners in the neighborhood, and they recognized and knew us.  I believe that sense of community and neighborly kinship has been lost in many American cities. However, I suspect that those Americans who live in the so-called “fly-over country” still adhere to many of the traditions and precepts that make for a civil and cohesive society in America.  However, even there in Middle America, life is not the same because of social media and an ever-expanding technology that brings more and more change into our daily lives.

I recognize that change is necessary. It is one of the few constants in life, but change must be mitigated so that it does not create disorder or even chaos.  Somewhere in my reading or in listening to audiotapes, I remember a quote from President Kennedy’s father, if memory serves.  He said, “If it is not necessary to change, then it is necessary not to change.”  I read or heard that statement many years ago, but only recently have I begun to understand what the senior Kennedy meant.  I have borrowed that quote to provide a perspective for the remainder of this post.

I believe change is necessary and useful for America because it can keep America vibrant, innovative, and vital.  However, change does not mean that we should give up every value, custom, or tradition that makes America, America, or that makes for a civilized and cohesive society and culture.

The foundational principles of America included many traits, including self-reliance, a love of liberty, and the many freedoms explicitly outlined in the Bill of Rights in our Constitution.  These principles were the foundation upon which Americans built this country, and they reached a high point during the post-war years after World War II.  I am not suggesting that we try to recapture the life of the late 1940s, the 1950s, and the early 1960s. However, I am suggesting that there are actions that we can take that can align us with much of the good that was evident in those years.

I believe that anyone can change his life by altering his thinking and recognizing what needs to be modified or revised.  And so it is with the idea of Retroculture.  We can start doing those things that our grandfathers and grandmothers did, and our fathers and mothers did when we were growing up.  What does that mean?  It means returning to those things we did as families to celebrate our life as a family.  Many of the old ways worked and worked well.  There is no harm in returning to the best of them.  When families had dinner together every night and especially on Sunday, and they played games together and went on picnics. The common thread that runs through all of these activities is doing things as a family.

History has demonstrated over the centuries that the family is the core of society. If you destroy the family, society and culture are not far behind.  We see that destruction in much of what is occurring around us.

I recall in living memory when there was a time in America when men were gentlemen and women were ladies.  People said, “Yes sir,” and “no sir” and “yes ma’am” and “no ma’am.” People opened doors for one another.  People were civil and courteous.  Men shook hands (not bumped fists) when they met, and gentlemen tipped their hats when they met a woman.  These niceties and others like them have gone by the wayside for the most part, but we can recapture them if we make a conscious effort to do so. We can become more polite, more courteous, and more civil towards everyone, starting today.

In the posts that follow this one, I will discuss the idea of retroculture in more detail. There are two other related ideas. One is the radical decentralization of political power from the Federal Government to the 50 sovereign states and the restoration of social power to We the People. The second is a discussion of ideas related to Renaissance (American Style). These three ideas form the triad of the new 3R’s for America.