Ask Dr. E: Where are tomorrow’s adults? Where are our leaders?

OPINION:

Dear Dr. E: When I watch the nightly news, I sometimes feel like I’m watching a nation of perpetual adolescent children. Our country is at a loss for anyone who wants to act like the grown-up in the room. Whether it’s in our schools, churches, or even the halls of Congress, everyone seems more interested in going with the flow than taking a stand for what’s right. It’s as if we live in a nation of teenagers whose only goal is to be popular. Where are tomorrow’s adults? Where are our leaders? — FED UP IN FLORIDA

Dear Fed Up: If you’ve flown much, you know that the seats in the exit row are often the most desirable because they come with a little extra legroom. But you also know that choosing those seats comes with additional responsibility. During the preflight briefing, the flight attendant always asks those assigned to this area if they’re willing and able to carry out the responsibilities of helping others get off the plane in case of an emergency.

I’ve flown my fair share and have yet to see anyone refuse to accept this role. Everyone says, “Yes, if there’s a crisis, I am willing to keep my head about me, step forward during the panic, and do what no one else will do. I’ll open the door. I will lead.” 

But, by and large, the exact opposite is true for our culture and country. Few seem willing today to say, “I don’t care what everyone else does or doesn’t do. If the plane is going down, I will do what’s necessary. While everyone around me loses their mind, I’ll take the lead.” 

There are, however, some exceptions. 

Once a year, on September 11, images of the most horrific attack on the mainland United States flash across our television screens. We’ve all watched it over and over. We’ve all seen the planes as they crashed into the Twin Towers, heard the frantic phone calls, and watched the buildings collapse to the ground as an immense cloud of dust and debris billowed its way down the streets and alleyways of New York City. 

We’ve all watched the tens of thousands of people running, almost childlike, away from the crisis. But we’ve also seen the few adults who stood courageously and did the exact opposite.  

In the midst of the chaos, there were firefighters, police officers, and paramedics who ran towards the catastrophe, not away from it. Rather than worry about themselves, they instinctively did their duty. They ran in the opposite direction of the crowd. They rushed toward the crisis, not away from it. These were the “men among boys.” They were the leaders. Sacrifice was as natural to them as self-preservation was to the crowd.

The mark of a leader is his passion for a cause. His comfort doesn’t matter. In fact, his mission is so irresistible that he cannot help but take the reins regardless of what everyone else is doing. A leader cannot remain silent. Inaction isn’t an option. What’s popular never crosses his mind. A leader stands tall while everyone else cowers. Those who ran into the buildings on 9/11 took the lead simply because it was the right thing to do. What everyone else was doing never crossed his mind.

Why do we see so little of this today? Frankly, it is because of our educational system. American schools are presently more interested in propaganda than they are in sound pedagogy. Professors are more interested in producing carbon copies of themselves rather than graduates who can think for themselves. The American Ivory Tower has become the Tower of Babel. Students and faculty can’t even communicate where they’re going, let alone lead someone in getting there. Today’s academy, in all its pomp and circumstance, is much more concerned with “safe spaces,” “trigger warnings,” and “micro-aggressions” than it is with teaching courage and conviction.  

Our colleges and universities have given us a nation awash with 25, 45, 65, and 70-year-old adolescents who are more interested in their list of grievances than they are in acting like grown-ups. You are right to be concerned. What this country needs right now is some real adults who are willing to sit in the exit row and do their duty - a few good men who are willing and eager to stand alone and say, “Follow me” when everyone else is losing their mind and following the crowd to their demise.

If you are seeking guidance in today’s changing world, Higher Ground is there for you. Everett Piper, a Ph.D. and a former university president and radio host, takes your questions in his weekly ’Ask Dr. E’ column. If you have moral or ethical questions for which you’d like an answer, please email askeverett@washingtontimes.com and he may include it in a future column.