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Neo Traditionalist Perspective: Brings Old and New Together

Domenick J. Maglio, Ph.D. Neo Traditionalist

Americans are confused as to how to identify themselves politically. Both parties give lip service to our core values. Republicans claim to be conservatives yet are outrageous spenders while democrats claim they are compassionate yet they are doing the bidding of special interest groups to maintain their power. Their hypocrisy has alienated us from the political process.

“We The People” are America, not the political elite. Our beliefs are based on American traditional moral values. We define ourselves daily by our choices, not by irrelevant labels. Many of us are people attempting to bridge the gap between our wonderful traditions and the innovative forces of the modern world. Most of us are unknowingly the new traditionalists, “neo traditionalists.”

America’s strength and greatness was built on the backs of traditional, hard working people from all corners of the world. The moral values they brought to this country were developed over centuries of spiritual thought, raising families and daily interaction with others. We have woven Judeo-Christian values into the fabric of our society. Even our sophisticated federalist republic was pieced together by our founding fathers from past civilizations.

In the short history of the USA we have blossomed into the most powerful nation on earth by gleaning the best the past has to offer. We are trendsetters for the rest of the world. Others copy anything or everything we do.

Everyday there are items introduced to the public that can alter our daily lives. Our strong national economy gives us almost unlimited economic and social choices without a guidebook informing us of the potential long-range consequences of these choices. Our overwhelming material and personal choices have made available to us untested life styles. Through this greater array of temptations, we are in danger of unintentionally losing the focus of what is best for our future as individuals and as a nation. Our country needs to remain rooted in the best of our past to grow straight and remain healthy.

Traditionalists, in the more stable past, had time on their side to know the long-term consequences of particular practices. We no longer have the luxury of time to see the results of particular behavior on others before we do it. Making decisions without the advantage of knowing the historical results of these behaviors is an ineffectual and risky way of living. We are not given an opportunity of being forewarned.

The neo traditionalist is a person who uses the wisdom developed through centuries of experience to guide him and others when making decisions in the present to create a positive future. He does not live in the nostalgic “good old days” nor does he follow irrational fads of the present. Instead he blends the best of the old and the new. His course is navigated by using the reference point of our time-tested traditions to make adjustments to balance himself in this period of rapid change. Reality learned from personal experience acts like a global positioning system.

Advances in technology give us many more practical options in our daily lives. Many modern devices can make our lives easier or consume us. Each one of us is forced to make quick decisions without the benefit of prior established traditions. People must consider the long-term consequences of this myriad of choices.

Neo traditionalists pragmatically evaluate new ideas, objects and life styles to determine the impact on living a balanced life. The question: “Does it help me do a better job fulfilling my obligations?” has to be answered. When the answer is yes the neo-traditionalist does it. When the answer is “no”, he will avoid it.

The cell phone is more than just another phone. It has affected road safety, dating habits, privacy and rules of courtesy in public spaces. The same process of analyzing how it would impact life has been and should be used with such things as the palm pilot, microwave oven, video games, prescription and recreational drugs and any new innovation sold to the American public. It is the neo-traditionalists who are the people formulating their own rules to minimize the down side and maximize the positives of using the modern devices.

The computer is another modern device that could be summarily dismissed by a traditionalist for its newness or unquestionably accepted by a modernist for the same reason. A neo traditionalist looks at computers from a different perspective. He views it as a means of assistance to maintain his goals in life rather than becoming a goal itself. When the computer takes him or his family member away from his pursuit of stability and towards video games, pornography or a virtual life style, he turns away from it. When it helps to more easily get information or communicate with others it is blended into his daily life.

As important, if not more important than the critical review of products is examining the remarketing of newly packaged socialistic “nanny” philosophy. Many of these regurgitated notions of the past sound great but they do not work. Neo traditionalists through looking at the long run implications evaluate government handouts, permissive childrearing, promiscuous lifestyles, celebrity worship, and high-risk credit.

American strength has come from our ability to forge the new with the old without losing our bearings. Belief in God, our families, hard work and our need to be free are the principles, which have anchored us to become and remain a vibrant civilization.

Neo traditionalists are Americans of all ages who are using the strength of our past traditions to create new traditions to meet the challenges of the future.