And I wonder if it is also disappearing among the young, with the world once again becoming what it was for most of our existence on the planet - an unmanageable arena in which the best you can do is carve out a path for your own success. The big problems are not your, or anyone's, responsibility.

Corruption and cynicism among people in power suggest that they have lost that sense of responsibility and purpose.

With that came a sense of responsibility and ownership. We entered adult life with a sense that our lives could be dedicated to things bigger than ourselves.
Is that still true?

I grew up in an era where most young people accepted as a given that the future was ours to create, that happiness and prosperity could be created through wise human effort, and that suffering and misery were the result of poor or venal human actions.
CONT.

Are we nearing the end of the Age of Reason? It gave us the understanding that we could shape the future ourselves. No more propitiating gods and hoping for the best.
CONT.

I knew Hilary Mantel wrote Wolf Hall as an answer to A Man for All Seasons, but didn't realize she was anti-Catholic. "No longer a religion for respectable people," she apparently once said. Still... a great story, and a great TV series thanks to Mark Rylance and whoever made those costumes.

enjoying Wolf Hall, but apparently Mark Rylance's Cromwell is much more sympathetic than the real guy. The historical Cromwell was pretty much of a thug, apparently.