First a bit of background:
I hold a Ph.D. from the University of California, and received my post-doctoral training from Stanford University, in the field of Psychology with a specialty in Human Cognition. I am trained in Perception, Memory, Learning, Biology, Chemistry, and Computer Science. This melange of exposure to various fields of study permits me to comment on a wide range of human behaviors and social phenomena resulting there from.
The Tea Party "Movement", and the ugly outbursts of citizens we have all seen reported during the past few months, have called every pop psychologist and arm chair analyst out of the wood work, to pronounce meaning and rational for these behaviors.
I wish to offer another take.
I promise not to bury you in jargon, and technical terms, that frequently serve to occlude the issue, rather than enlighten...
Several diaries and references to the Frank Rich piece in today's NYT have been foregrounded, in large part because by stating what so many of us believe, and reiterating the history that so many of us have lived, Mr. Rich offers comfort, and some understanding, as to why things have gotten so off the track in our political discourse.
But there is another element I would like to highlight. It will be difficult, because every reference to a "Coursening of the Culture" is met with derision by those who feel that the young are in control of their society and any harkening back to "olden days" is simply the misguided longing of those with failing memories.
We frequently abjure the media for its attention to the trivial and meaningless gossip in place of an in depth analysis of the complex issues that citizens must understand to function in modern society. But, we know that railing against "missing white girl" interruptions of substance has produced no change in the format of what is sold as news. We cringe at the "Fair and Balanced" coverage of FOX News, dismissing it as the propaganda arm of the far right wing in modern politics. But, we know that their viewership far exceeds that of CNN and MSNBC, and they are having an impact on the discourse. We are amused at the crude, and often hostile, reality shows. But, many of us religiously watch them, taking sides and cheering on the least offensive contestant. Cooking has become a throw down. Decorating has transmuted into rude arguments. Network comedy is rife with sly, greedy, often unsocial people, who daily push the limits of polite discourse, and represent a life that is fraught with intrigue, vicious fights, and genuinely stupid people strutting and cavorting for the cameras, and your applause.
Athletes are routinely given a hand slap for offenses that would land you, or I, in jail. Entertainers are celebrated for disrobing, drinking to excess, and drug use. Divorces are celebrated, rather than treated as the tragic failures of judgment and loyalty that they signify. Children are portrayed as spiteful, scheming, disrespectful, and parents as confused, overwhelmed, and easily fooled.
This is a small portion of our society as painted for each of us, everyday.
And what is the result?
We are increasingly rude to one another. We feel any method of behavior is allowed if we win in the end. We base our judgments on a carefully constructed view of America, designed to keep us ignorant, and manipulate our emotions. And, we have lost the basic tenants of a civil society. We are living Bread and Circuses.
Our culture is being shaped by forces of which most people are completely unaware. Each element of this shaping is probably not intending to destroy civil society, merely to advance some closely held value. Sane religion is not promoting killing doctors. Sane politicians are not promoting civil war. Television and films are not promoting violence. Each of these forces is simply espousing its views in a world overwhelmed by media access, with no self restraint applied by the agents of these views. To foster a world view, to win re-election, to make money. No one intentionally does evil. But the result is turning out much the same as if they were.
We are destroying America in the maw of someone's truth, someone's fun, and someone's demand to be heard, by training our citizens to accept a range of portraits of themselves in ways that do not further the common good. We are standing by and allowing these distortions to go unchallenged on the national stage, hoping that we can make a difference in our own conduct that will stem the tide.
We like to think that one person can make a difference. But, one person can not stop a hurricane. One person can not stop a lie. One person can not stand between civility and destruction of the community standard, no matter how many time we are assured that we can.
Change takes movements, growing groups of people who stand up, en masse, and challenge the standards being sold to us as normal:
People who not only refuse to watch FOX News, but question its installation in public places.
People willing to stand up and question a minister or priest who lies, or misrepresents reality, in the name of faith.
People who write those dreaded Letters to the Editor, laying out facts when the local politician foments riots to gin up his base.
People who dust off that charming old expression, "How RUDE!", and use it liberally in public places.
People willing to write to TV and movie studios, not in a snit of self-righteous anger, but in a plea for more civil dialogue and actions on the screen.
If we want to put a lid on the vile racism, and homophobia, and just plain stupidity, we must begin by demanding a return to civil discourse. Else, we are standing by and watching our beloved country slip into chaos.
Twenty years ago the people putting forward this nonsense would have been laughed off the stage. They would garner the attention of only a small, unbalanced, segment of the country. They would have been shunned in polite society.
Perhaps it is past time that we begin to rediscover the social rules that marginalize chaos; a chaos served up to weaken and divide our people, and make them ripe for the Balkanization of ideas, and leaders, that often proceeds total the total disintegration of a society.