Sandra Myers

A New Wave of Domestication—that was the larger part of a headline for an article I read recently in The Atlantic magazine, under their science heading. The thing is, it was talking about dogs.

    As a dog lover, I was intrigued so I read the article. The funny thing about the article was, as I read it, the more they described the “new wave of domestication of dogs” the more I kept thinking about how it so similarly applied to what is being done to Americans—a new wave of domestication.

    Some of the highlights of the article discuss how dogs held a place of value because of the jobs they performed—their purpose: hunting, guarding, watching, herding, etc.

    Not that long ago dogs, although much beloved, were, well, dogs. Now there’s no jobs for the average dog, just doggy clothing—including brand names—which includes pajamas, jewelry, Halloween costumes and more; we also have doggy day care, formal pet cemeteries, special menus for dogs at restaurants.

    The article went on to say that in just a generation, their lives have abruptly changed. With increased urbanization children (the article mentioned children) and dogs no longer had spacious wild places to roam. With this adaptation to sedentary urban dwelling we are more likely to see them lazily napping under desks, ever quiet, while “parents” work from home. Following this maybe an orchestrated ride to the dog park followed by a pup-cup treat at Starbucks no less!

Dog-bun vs. Man-bun... in the new wave of domestication, who wears it better?

Man-buns and Metrosexuals

But I digress. The point of this discussion of the Atlantic article was really about the new wave of “domestication”—of Americans as a whole. Almost as abruptly as dogs, the sense of purpose has been bred and trained out of individuals. Going by the wayside are the things I took for granted as I grew up: the sense of accomplishment for something as simple as getting your driver’s license at 16 and having saved money from working to buy a used car; advancing in a career; having a place of your own, and creating a life, family and home for yourself.

    Americans are quickly accepting of the orchestrated, abrupt new wave of domestication. The push to urbanize Americans into 15-minute, carless cities is especially creating a mentally and often physically sedentary lifestyle. We now live in a time of man-buns and cry rooms.

    Children whose parents spoiled them mindlessly with “all the things they never had” and want to “be their friend” are creating a neutered new generation. Gone is the ability to think and work out a problem, their sense of purpose, responsibility, self-worth, an incentive to make their own way in the world. With this drive now gone, many adult children are still living with or return to their childhood home with no plans to ever leave and make their own way.

Will This Election Victory Re-Ignite Traditional Values?

In just four years the pace for this neutering has accelerated rapidly. During Biden’s term of office his liberal puppet-masters have defunded police, gone ludicrously soft on crime, propelled sexual deviancy to the forefront, devalued a college education by attempting to give it away for free, brought loads of immigrants in to destabilize cities, and massively indentured our great-grandchildren with free money giveaways to foreign countries.

    This in-your-face, often violent, cultural upheaval, it seems, had beat many Christians and other conservatives into the shadows—nearly neutering many of them and attempting to make them powerless. Of course, there were some that had not been intimidated during these last four years. To them I say Bravo!

    Will the momentum of Donald Trump’s election victory reinvigorate those who became wearied? I pray so. Perhaps the ship can be righted and America can return as the respected leader of the free world once again.

    But most important, could the lifting of the liberals’ boot from our necks help to re-ignite a fire of revival for Jesus in America? I pray so.

    I hold no illusions about Donald Trump. I know to which earthly masters he is beholden to. But will the assassination attempt and the obvious preservation of his life keep him on a more godly course? Of that, too, I pray.