Today Americans are overcome not by the sense of endless possibility but by the banality of the social order they have erected against it.
Interpretation
The quote suggests that people feel constrained by societal norms rather than inspired by the potential for freedom and opportunity.
Christopher Lasch highlights a paradox in American society where, instead of being motivated by endless possibilities, individuals are stifled by the mundane and repetitive structures of social order they have created. This commentary implies that societal conventions may limit true personal growth and exploration, leading to a collective sense of dissatisfaction or disillusionment.
In practice
In a discussion about modern society, one might cite this quote to illustrate how routine can dampen ambition.
Much of what is euphemistically known as the middle class, merely because it dresses up to go to work, is now reduced to proletarian conditions of existence. Many white-collar jobs require no more skill and pay even less than blue-collar jobs, conferring little status or security.
The reporting of news has to be understood as propaganda for commodities, and events by images.
It is advertising and the logic of consumerism that governs the depiction of reality in the mass media.
Even the reporting of news has to be understood not as propaganda for any particular ideology, liberal or conservative, but as propaganda for commodities β for the replacement of things by commodities, use values by exchange values, and events by images.
It is the logic of consumerism that undermines the values of loyalty and permanence and promotes a different set of values that is destructive of family life.
The question of the family now divides our society so deeply that the opposing sides cannot even agree on a definition of the institution they are arguing about.
I shall assume that your silence gives consent.
Unite liberality with a just frugality; always reserve something for the hand of charity; and never let your door be closed to the voice of suffering humanity.
Accept no one's definition of your life; define yourself.
We need a right view of the cross. It is both a historical event that can take us to Heaven and a current event that can bring Heaven to bear on Earth.
Choice of evils debates always produce extremism - people choose what they hope is the lesser evil, then call it good and demonize the other choice. It will be a challenge for your generation to synthesize - to move beyond Us versus Them, to We.
The way in which a man accepts his fate and all the suffering it entails, the way in which he takes up his cross, gives him ample opportunity β even under the most difficult circumstances β to add a deeper meaning to his life. It may remain brave, dignified and unselfish. Or in the bitter fight for self preservation he may forget his human dignity and become no more than an animal
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