How have we come to this? What has happened that the wealthiest nation on Earth has become a nation filled with hate, division and inanity? Other nations have always admired us, or hated us, but they saw the beacon of hope that was offered. And now, they are taking a step back to watch our continuing car wreck. Sadly, the same development is prevalent all over the world. The folly of Brexit, which should never have been allowed in the first place, has revised itself to the point that Boris Johnson recently came within a few votes of being ousted. Angela Merkel, admired as one of the best leaders of the past 50 years dropped out of the running in Germany.
But my question is not about which countries are at fault but why the hatred and animosity is now so universal. We are better educated and better trained than ever before and yet the craziness is at a fever pitch. In place of progress, there is violence. There is so much money, technology and intelligence (human and artificial) to address the major problems that face us and yet there are so many people arguing against any type of progress.
Pick a topic: gun violence, climate change, hatred and discrimination. How about sports ethics: fans and some players out of control. When did it become okay for fans at professional sports events to feel that they could act like Mad Max? At every game! The nation feels like the crowd at a Gladiator event from Roman times, yelling for blood. How have we come to this?
How is it that I see approximately ten articles on various Kardashians on my news feed each day – and I don’t even watch their shows or follow their daily drama/gossip/staged events? And yet I do read articles on the devastating floods that have closed our first national park, Yellowstone. Somehow, that matters that the Kardashians are bigger than ever, no matter what the news headlines are from day to day. I’m not against Kardashians, but why do so many people continue to make them so famous and rich? Because they buy their “brand” and their products or support the brands they endorse. Imagine how much good in the world Kris Jenner could do if she masterminded her daughters to embrace and attack and make fashionable the problems of climate change and gun violence? Imagine if other smart icons and revered celebrities banded together to push us to work together to face these crises and then come together instead of all the silly nonsensical debates and posturing in our government? This emptiness and ongoing stall tactics by our elected representatives only delay any resolution to a future that is becoming more and more uneasy due to inaction.
It is shocking to me to see sports fans yelling the obscenities they yell at their sports heroes, throwing food and garbage at the players and the refs or umps. It used to be fun to go to a game; now I can’t watch little kids in the seats also learning to boo and hate. Refs and umps needing a police escort to their cars so they can escape? How have we come to this?
How has climate change (once identified as global warming but needed a name change to be more politically topical) even become a debate? This is not a blame game anymore. Yes back in the early to mid 20th Century, as the Greenhouse Effect was becoming an occasional topic in newspapers and in many elementary schools, there was blame to go around. A lot of that blame was aimed at many of the most polluting industries such as automobiles, steel, coal and industrial waste. Yes, the Industrial Revolution wreaked havoc with our environment and the Earth’s balance.
Now, we are looking for solutions. We need to adjust and instead of apologizing for our past successes, we have to invest in cleaner processes and ideas and technologies that will fix and hopefully reverse the problems caused by our 230 years of sustained industrial change since the Industrial Revolution. Why does this make so many people so mad? Why are there so many “deniers?”
There are so many people who are angry and who are saying, “this country doesn’t work for me anymore.” They are angry because they are not working or feel the opportunities haven’t gone their way and they feel disenfranchised. And yet.
Since Covid and the Great Resignation or Great Reshuffle, employers cannot find enough employees. How is it someone can be angry about their job situation when employers are now paying $15 or $20 per hour when only two years ago, many were only paying the then minimum wage of $7.25? Yes I know many of these people are angry that opportunity has spread to include all ethnic and racial groups. And they feel left out. But they have a seat at the table – but many instead sit on their anger.
Why do so many gun owners own so many guns? I’m talking about the ones who own 100 or more guns. Why are there more guns in America than there are people? If you have that many guns in your house, do you have them all locked up in a gun closet or gun vault? Just properly and safely housing all those guns would cost a small fortune. Yes you and I have the right to own a gun. Yes there is no limit. But why? Too many Zombie movies about the coming apocalypse? Too many fears about immigration, racial equality?
What has happened to debate? Reasoning? Common sense? Why are 18 year-olds shooting up innocent school children or churchgoers, knowing they themselves will die in a hail of bullets?
Yes, there is a growing divide between the rich (the ultra-rich or one percenters) and everyone else. But most people know there is money to be made, even in this economy. Why does this seem to be a mystery to so many who take a gun out to a school or church instead of taking a job and working their way up through society? Which used to be the model; it still is but why are so many so lost and angry that they choose murder and mayhem over career?
What is the mechanism that produces a reasoned discussion (not debate) about the need for progress in all these and other areas? How do we just stop being angry or disgusted or left out and instead sit across from each other and agree to work together on developing common solutions? Like we used to do. Yes, the problem is political, geographic and socio-economic. The problem is not the fault of any one generation; this is a national crisis that spans all generations, young and old. Ignorance and hatred have no place at the table in this discussion. Everyone has to acknowledge and agree we need to move forward, that time is running out. Moving to Mars is not an option.
We have become so polarized that we have become static. That was never America’s M.O. The world always moves forward. And now everything feels stuck, we are in a rut and cannot get out. The solutions are being proposed every day but most people are not listening or reading. Instead many just boil, waiting for someone else to do something.
There was a time when it seemed the promise and the attitude of America was “can do” and we could solve any problem. (See American Exceptionalism). I still feel we can, but with all this divide and acrimony in the way, I don’t see the path yet.
As I laid my head down to go to sleep last night, the question that came to me was, “How have we come to this?” I tabled that thought in my mind and first thing this morning, I wrote this. No, I don’t have the conclusion, the solution for this piece. Yes, it’s complicated and complex. I wish I knew. I hope we move forward beyond politics to begin an action plan. And yet.
Chris Ebel
6/17/22
Image: Spinning Globe by @hisks