Once upon a time there was an American Camelot. For me it was the second half of the twentieth century. A time for the middle class to prosper. A time when social contracts were honored. A time when people went to college after fighting a war. A time when families were intact and sacrificed for their children's education. A time when doctors, lawyers, and priests were admired.
Once upon a time but never again.
I taught in two Jesuit high schools. At that time there were more Jesuits teaching than laypersons teaching. Now in one of them, I see that out of 98 teachers, three are Jesuits, one of them in training.
Recently I was an e-mailed an invitation to join a luxury cruise to Puerto Vallerta in which a Jesuit would conduct "seminars" in "Jesuit Spirituality". Jesuit has become a "brand", it seems. Schools with hardly any Jesuits are called Jesuit and "branded" spirituality which is actually not spirituality is being vended by a Jesuit with a vow of poverty who is a luxury cruise chaplain.
I was lucky to have lived in a Camelot time frame. Pure luck. I gave my life to church work, to a church that failed to abide by the most elemental of civil regulations, as the pedophilia expose has shown.
That church is now in decline except in Africa.
So many reasons for the decline of the affluent societies. Most nations have their "Camelots" and then throw the chairs around the "round table" at each other.
Camelot was "once upon a time". That time is over and cannot be recovered. Fascism usually follows.
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