There have always been fads and trends. There have always been crowds and mobs. There have always been backlashes and panics, demagogues and undercurrents.
People fall for them. That’s what humanity does. That’s what societies do.
But you must resist. You must not be pulled in. One of the hardest tasks of our time, we’ve said over at Daily Stoic, is not to let bad times turn you into a bad person. To not get caught up in reactionary movements, to give yourself over to grievance and radicalization.
This is especially true for parents because in your care is the next generation. Right next to you is an impressionable person looking for values, looking for hope, forming their opinions about others, trying to figure this whole life thing out.
You must show them that you mean what you say. That you weren’t just paying lip service to the ideas you read to them in those children’s books about—that character actually is important, that kindness does matter, that love is more important than hate or resentment, that we do have the power to make the world better. You cannot give yourself over to bitterness or rage. You must condemn demagoguery and dishonesty and corruption when you see it–not just when it comes from people you already don’t like.
You must swim against the currents of our time. This is your job. The future depends on it.