We Really Are In The Age Of Lost Innocence

Some reflection

If someone told you 50 years ago some of the abusive behaviours that we have been inflicting on the children of today, you probably would have considered locking them up. Most of the innocence of childhood is gone. We have lost something quite precious.

I think back to my childhood. There were no computers, internet, or cable television, and life was pretty simple; you went to school––yes, with strict teachers who we feared. We played outside without a care or fear of being assaulted or molested. When we went to sporting events, we were in awe of the stars of the day.

I grew up in Canada, and of course, the sport every Canadian boy was obsessed with was ice hockey.

In 1956, when I was 10, my father got tickets to see the Montreal Canadians play against the Toronto Maple Leafs. This one time, my father got seats right behind the goalie. The Montreal goalie was Jacques Plante, the first player to don a mask or helmet. Seeing the level of skill and reflexes at work in these grown men had me absolutely riveted. I'll always remember that game.

We can't return to the past; nostalgia doesn't solve today's problems. So, how do we solve the issues of today? That is a huge task, and it really comes down to us. The government can't fix our problems. Bureaucrats can throw millions of dollars at social issues; however, individuals must take the initiative to save money. There is only one way we can make changes: to bring equilibrium to our lives––our lives demand it.

There are key areas where this has to take place.

Technology and Medicine

Medicine and technology are linked and have given us benefits and drawbacks. Undoubtedly, technology has brought great immeasurable benefits to our world. It is part of the progression of human development. This is not something new. We went from handwritten books until the development of the printing press in the 15th century. We went from the horse and buggy to the first motorized vehicles, and they evolved into modern gas-powered cars that are highly fuel efficient and much safer. 

This 1961 Pontiac that I owned in 1964 was basic. There was no seatbelt or airbag with three speeds on the column, but it got me from point A to point B. 

When I started in my chiropractic practice, to process x-rays, I had to go into a dark room, take the films out of cassettes, clip them onto hangers, and dip them into the chemicals, much like photographic film. 

Then I progressed to an automatic processor––still in the darkroom. In the 2000s, the technology advanced to where I had a digital processor with no darkroom or chemicals. The significant advantage was that you could manipulate the image by enhancing brightness and contrast, you could also zoom in to an area of interest, and there was a reduction in radiation exposure. 

Before 1970, if you had a degenerated hip joint or fractured a hip, there was a good chance you could be bedridden and die prematurely. Today, things have vastly improved. I had a hip replacement done in 2019, and six weeks later, I was out on the street cycling. 

Today, brain surgery is done with the assistance of high tech, and procedures done by competent people are more successful and save lives. We often pan medicine, and there is much that we can criticize; however, medical technology has done some fantastic things.

The pendulum has swung to the extreme where we think more is better. We don't know how far we can push the limits. We had real-world evidence of this starting in 2021 with the mRNA platform for vaccination. This was not an established technology because it was sold based on Emergency Use Authorization (EUA). We were sold on an experiment.

If you were vaccinated, here's what you purchased. You purchased a product with a much more limited shelf life than promised. It became outdated quickly against the strain it was purported to neutralize had evolved.

You purchased a product that does not immunize you from getting COVID and were not told about it when you got vaccinated? You were a human test subject in a series of ongoing experiments of what happens when, for the first time in human history, we injected this messenger RNA technology into people multiple times. We know how that worked out. It is the worst medical product in history for adverse events and deaths.

Worse, we have abused children by forcing COVID-19 vaccines on a segment of the population that is not at risk of dying from COVID-19. We further traumatized children by masking them and locking them out of school. World-renowned doctors stated this was a terrible policy but to no avail. Now, President Biden is pushing more boosters for the latest viral mutation.

The mass injection of individuals is not really new. As a child, I got a few injections: polio, diphtheria, smallpox and tetanus. Today, there are many more with multiple injections––70 or more. How did we go from a little is good for you to the more you inject, the better. The proof is in the pudding, as they say. Kids today are sicker than ever. Autism, ADD, and ADHD have been linked to vaccination. It's now at epidemic proportions. Many parents were not told that their children were injected with adjuvants like aluminium in the form of Thimerosal. So many children today have to deal with the effects of what has been done to them instead of living a carefree childhood.

When word processors and desktop computers came out, did you ever think that you would see children sitting glued to what we now call smartphones? Rather than engaging in conversation, they are addicted to these devices, and the tech companies know they are selling addictive products.

So many children today are engaged for hours on their ipads or phones and are not getting out and playing sports. Is it any wonder we have a childhood obesity epidemic? Australian data shows that 25% of Australian children are overweight or obese. This is according to 2018 statistics. I would venture the figure is even higher because the lockdowns and restrictions during the height of Covid would have increased the rate.

In my childhood, we read comic books like Batman and Superman. There was no sexualization of children. Today, children are being exposed to sexual content, and transgender ideology is something promoted along with the illusion of multiple genders. Transitioning is actually encouraged in some schools; it's really unbelievable. Biology, it seems, is whatever you think it is. Objective reality is no longer fashionable.

So yes, the pendulum has swung so far the other way that children don't live in that world of innocence for very long. Parents have to battle hard today to keep their children on track to experience the true wonders of childhood. As I speak to groups on technology and the spine, people nod in agreement when I mention that the average child watches digital screens eight hours a day. This is not healthy.

Relationships

Young children are battling on two fronts. Technology is one thing, but the breakdown of marital relationships is another. In fact, marriage, along with religion––or any spiritual belief system––has gone out of favour. A lack of belief in something greater than ourselves means we succumb to any transient ideology. To many, God lives in a Tic-Toc app.

Growing up in the 50s, I had two parents; one worked, and the other stayed home. It was the same with all my friends. We had a much more stable life. They talk today about work-life balance. Well, we had that in the 1950s. People could afford to live on one income. Today, the cost of living, including housing, is so high that only the well-off can afford a one-income family. Housing affordability is the lowest in history.

While adults pursue their selfish pleasures, it's the children who suffer. Many children today have little to no contact with their fathers. Often, multiple partners are on the scene, and young children have to contend with those memories rather than comic books. We're often told that kids have good coping mechanisms. People who say that fail to address the long-term consequences of failed marriages and relationships.

There are many things to appreciate about our world today. However, we need to focus on those things that enable kids to be kids again and not have to deal with the vagaries that are so emblematic of our world today. We can limit tech usage to two hours or less daily. If you're in a relationship or looking for one, nurture an existing one and choose wisely for a potential one. If you don't, there could be lifelong consequences for the young. We have seen this happen too often; it's time to reverse the trend. It starts with us, not some outside entity.