My friend Glen has used the Yesterday Man to describe himself. I do not know that there is a formal definition for the term but I suspect it refers to someone (most likely a man, but could there not be Yesterday Women too?) who finds themselves out of sorts with today's mores, customs, beliefs, practices, and values.
More and more as I have thought about it, I have come to value this term. I may even end up wearing it as a badge of honor (as I suspect all those who use the term of themselves do).
Yesterday Folk are probably of any ilk. They are the ones that try to fix things instead of throwing them away, that make things instead of always buying them, of finding innovative and unique ways of reusing things instead of buying or throwing away. They are the ones that would rather do with their hands and brains what is done by machine and programming.
They are the ones that have beliefs, morals, and values of bygone eras which are at best "out of touch" and at worst offensive. They are the ones that anymore, do not fit in with a society that is headed off in a completely different direction.
(This is not purely a Western, Christian problem. We Yesterday Folk are now everywhere, of every belief, of every race. I may have more in common with traditional Japanese Farmers and Shinto priests than I do with my own fellow citizens at this point).
Ironically, by being holders of the culture passed down to them they have become counter cultural through no fault of their own. They are now the Beatniks of the 50's, the Hippies of the 60's, the liberation warriors of the 70's, the Punk and Alternative Rock of the 80's. More often that not, they are seen as the weird, the outsiders, the lost.
Why does this not bother me more than it should?
Partially, of course, it is simply that in some way, I have always been "outside". The fact that I am outside now for just being who I have always been changes none of that. I was a loner and isolated before; I will be so long after whatever cultural and social revolution fails.
Partially as well is the fact that the thing that Yesterday Folk have on their side is the wisdom of the ages. Too often modern culture, be it believes or I-things, are based on ideas and technology that has not stood the test of time (we have not had a truly major failure of technology yet. Think of what that will be like). The roots of some of my beliefs and practices drill back to Sparta and Athens, 2500 years ago. That thinking has withstood all of these years. And it will again.
Finally, Yesterday Folk have the ability to survive where others can not, be it physically, spiritually, or emotionally. We are the ones that can make things works with baling wire and pliers, the ones that can entertain ourselves with nothing but books and soil, the ones that can make a meal of what we actually have in the cupboard instead of going out. We are now the native trees and grasses in the manicured and protected grounds of the 21st Century world; when those grounds expire because of lack of water and native pests we will still be there, quietly growing away like we have always done.
Being of the past is not always a liability. It only is if you believe the future is all there ever is and ever was.
I know there are Yesterday woman because I was lucky enough to marry one.
ReplyDeleteI wonder what combination of nature and nurture creates the Yesterday people.
Many points to ponder in the post. Thank you.
John - That is a great question. I do not know: My sister and I have the same gene pool but are very different in this regard; my children have varying degrees of interest.
DeleteThanks for stopping by!
I’d like to take credit for the term but I got it from The Z Man, who was using it as an insult. I was tickled with it to and promptly took possession of the term the same way we all did when Hillary Clinton called us all “deplorable”.
ReplyDeleteThe kids there attribute all their problems to boomers, and I often jump in as The Yesterday Man to explain why some of those things happened, and the context of the times that led to them. I often present a cautionary moral to such lectures for the kids and suddenly our doings in yesteryear start to make sense to some of them. Others snort with contempt and say derisively, “OK Boomer...”
I’m not surprised when some bitterly dismiss me as an obsolete buggy whip. But sometimes ... if it’s a buggy whip ya need... it is what it is.
😊👍
If it was directed at you as an insult, Glen, I will still attribute it to you.
DeleteI wish - or hope - that the younger generation understands how we got here. Or they will end up somewhere else and will have no way back.
Very thoughtful post, TB.
ReplyDeleteThank you Linda. I hope so.
DeleteIt’s a real gasser TB. The kids have it in their heads that Baby Boomers had it all handed to them on a silver platter. My parents, on the very leading edge of that demographic, certainly did. They had opportunities we will never see.
ReplyDeleteIn contrast, I caught the very tail end of the Boomer demographic - and me and my cohort never saw any of it. In my neck of the woods, my age group missed that bubble by about 3-5 years.
But all the kids see today is that their ancestors took one of the mightiest and most prosperous nations on the planet, and reduced it to what we see today. They invited the third world in and gave their birthright away to foreigners, and effectively locked them out of the job and property markets. They’re not entirely wrong about that.
It’s been my experience that the most bitter and ugly fights are those where both parties are right. Two wrongs can never make a right... but two rights can make for a helluva lot of wrong if you aren’t careful... and we have lots of very well meaning people going seriously wrong these days. Our soy boy prime minister up here in Canada is a case in point.
For me, that brave new world will have to build itself. I personally am doing a 180 and going back to better times, when we were all better people.
Glen, my parents had nothing handed to them, although they were slightly (5-10 years) pre-Boomer. They worked hard. I know they did, but I am sure that many would look at them now and think to themselves that they just "arrived".
DeleteI have come to the place where, like you, the brave new world has passed me by. And I am not at all sad about it.