My Generation, by Justin E. H. Smith

For those growing into adulthood during most of the twentieth century, therefore, the backdrop to life was the loss of faith in coherent systems of thought and morality. Sophisticated people knew they were supposed to rebel against authority, reject old certainties, and liberate themselves from hidebound customs and prejudices. Artists rebelled aga... See more

Perhaps this is why our society has been so stagnant and uncreative in some ways for the past 50 years. We chose the path of comfort, certainty, measurable progress, and indeterminate hedging of bets. In our cowardice, we turned away from the uncertain leaps of faith of collective struggle after fatal ends that would have demanded us to truly live.

I’m not looking to rewind the clock back to a time before we all had email and cellphones. What I want is to be inspired by the last generation that made a new life-world—the postwar American abstract expressionist painters, jazz musicians, and writers and poets who created an alternate American modernism that directly challenged the ascendant Comm... See more

I spend a lot of time seeking out music from different countries and regions, and with each passing year the challenge of finding something distinctively local increases.

This is a tremendous loss for everybody—akin to losing a species or an entire ecosystem. I feel I’m fighting a losing battle, but I refuse to walk away from the challenge.