WHY DON’T WE LIKE EACH OTHER?

Why don’t we like each other here in the United States?

Numerous measures like the Gallup Poll from 1966 indicated we valued our leaders, institutions, and others. Around the same time for my master’s thesis , I used a 5 item scale that measured detachment and social depression about  the wider society. The average response was that most people agreed to one or two items and that there were some problems in the country, but for the most part life was okay among us.(Major Vietnam protests and Violent Civil Rights would explode shortly after in that decade.)

A few years later, in the late 60’s, I gave the same scale to my classes when we discussed certain social problems. Most thought the scale was a joke. They agreed with all 5 items.

Dick Meyers a media analyst and author of WHY WE HATE US (2008) is the first to admit that we have had problems with  tension and division in the past and that it also occurs in other western societies. However, he describes the current irritants to our feelings here in America. Further, this is probably the country that we will spend the rest of our lives. So his observations appear to be incomplete but helpful.

Are you RED or BLUE? First, he underlines nearly all the values that most of us agree. A small amount deals with cultural  issues, that divide us. In other words, all of us agree on many values.So let’s begin with what causes divisions.

FAKE. You are looking at an electronic media and wondering how much the person who is talking is true. You idealize small town living, but you would rather experience it at a theme park.What is in that person’s grin? You feel like everyone has an agenda of some kind. You wear an expensive looking watch that didn’t cost much, but it did look very costly. That’s why you bought it.Folk’s who appear gracious on cable are extremely difficult to be around in person. People are taught how to be friendly and warm on television and in public when they are not. A number of athletes have children with strangers they never knew. All the above applies to some politicians. We trust teachers to educate and support are kids. We find out that some are sex predators. Big banks create funny money that bring down the world. Family values folks are caught in a sex sting. Where are those heroes that we need so much?

UNTIED. Society appears to have coarsened. Behavior and language of a rude portion of us has deviated downward. You hear a funny noise someone made with their body and the laughter that followed. The "F" word is now part of common parlance.What kind of civility can bring us together?

OMNI-MEDIA  In one way or another, we watch some kind of media almost all the time. At work, we sneak into the internet with numerous carry- on technology. At home it is cable 24/7/365. They tell us what the world looks like for each day with fast rotations of programs on 130 cable stations. They also can almost yell with each other with  some "slum" mixed in. Right now someone is in your face, "get used to it."

CIVIC WAR. Do you want to see some kind of violence? There are all kinds.It is all there at a turn of a switch. That includes hate radio which is extremely divisive.How about watching one animal kill and eat another?You can watch one human kill another, further you can get instant replay of the killing.

OMNI-MARKETING. Can I make you feel small? There is a product that will help you feel better. There is something for every part of your body and the backdrop which is called your home or apartment.And it goes on and on, but those appear to be the big ones. Some of the biggest sellers in print are about the scandal or short coming of others. However, I am like you. I can write about it, and yet fall down myself.

. Meyers suggests character training, mental health support, and some connection to community and the holy. You may find it within and outside. However, this is the time that I wrap this up with 10 steps to a better something or that down the road things will get better. Or, that we really had it great in the past, because memory can fail how some folks were treated badly without a moments hesitation. On the other hand, I am not going to leave with it is obvious that thing will go from bad to worse. Some incredible changes happen subtly and some times from a distance far away before they end up at our front door. Further, it is usually a number of things that come to past that change our behavior.

So let’s see what happens. By the way, what was the big story here in the states, right before 9/11 occured? What was it? Things could change. Just hang on.