I hope you are right. My bigger-picture point is less to do with politics and more about the overall nature of change -- which is not always for better. The overriding question is: have our politics made us into who we are, or does who we are determine our politics? I'd argue the latter.
I look around and see so much evolution, for worse,…
I hope you are right. My bigger-picture point is less to do with politics and more about the overall nature of change -- which is not always for better. The overriding question is: have our politics made us into who we are, or does who we are determine our politics? I'd argue the latter.
I look around and see so much evolution, for worse, in how we interact with each other and regard others. You are right that much progress has been made on larger-scale cultural issues, and that is important. But little things often serve as a tell too, and on our individual windows to the world. Some examples ... look at how people drive, more and more aggressive than ever. I don't recall road rage being an issue several decades earlier, with all of the flying by at breakneck pace, weaving frequently in and out of traffic, flipping the finger, and otherwise acting like everyone else is in our way. Look at how "discussion" has degenerated in quality in online forums (excepting here, where civility rules) to dumpster fire status. Many sites have done away with comments for just that reasons -- if in doubt read some sports pages on Facebook and elsewhere and see how many people begin to act like teenagers (or younger) at the slightest hint of controversy or difference of opinion. And look at how so many among us dress, wearing clothes out and about that, if they tried to donate them to Goodwill, they would put them into the garbage bin instead. All under the banner of "I don't care what people think, ..." and in service to the self. Taken together, it all says something about who we collectively have become, and it is not a pretty picture.
Thus endeth my sermon for today -- go forth and be righteous, just after our final hymn, number 130 in your book, "Just As I Am."
Politics is an extension of who we are as a culture. The values that inform our culture inform our politics.
Given no countervailing pressures, people tend to be selfish. This is evidenced in what is called the tragedy of the commons, where common resources are abused by selfish individuals.
I was watching a romantic comedy the other day (forget the title, my wife wanted to watch it). It was surprisingly good--not because it was particularly funny (and romance isn't really my thing in literature or movies) but because of the subtext--which was how one of the major characters always turned everything into being all about them.
Our culture and media (and media structures) have made us very self-centered and self-focused. There is minimal care or concern for the community or commons in swathes of our society (and actual anger when common concerns, like the environment, are pointed out).
Through in the death of shame on top of that and you geta toxic brew.
Well said. I agree with you that it is the latter, who we are determines our politics.
The rest of what you said has merit. And I agree with much of it. I know that history may tend to predict a less than favorable outcome of our current situation, such as a complete disintegration of the country as we know it. However we are a unique experiment, and we do have the good fortune of knowing history and how the authoritarians work.
I believe good folk are still the majority. Also so many groups that were formerly kept under society's boot heel now have some power, and visibility. They will not succumb easily nor go quietly. My fingers are crossed, and I say a prayer.
I hope you are right. My bigger-picture point is less to do with politics and more about the overall nature of change -- which is not always for better. The overriding question is: have our politics made us into who we are, or does who we are determine our politics? I'd argue the latter.
I look around and see so much evolution, for worse, in how we interact with each other and regard others. You are right that much progress has been made on larger-scale cultural issues, and that is important. But little things often serve as a tell too, and on our individual windows to the world. Some examples ... look at how people drive, more and more aggressive than ever. I don't recall road rage being an issue several decades earlier, with all of the flying by at breakneck pace, weaving frequently in and out of traffic, flipping the finger, and otherwise acting like everyone else is in our way. Look at how "discussion" has degenerated in quality in online forums (excepting here, where civility rules) to dumpster fire status. Many sites have done away with comments for just that reasons -- if in doubt read some sports pages on Facebook and elsewhere and see how many people begin to act like teenagers (or younger) at the slightest hint of controversy or difference of opinion. And look at how so many among us dress, wearing clothes out and about that, if they tried to donate them to Goodwill, they would put them into the garbage bin instead. All under the banner of "I don't care what people think, ..." and in service to the self. Taken together, it all says something about who we collectively have become, and it is not a pretty picture.
Thus endeth my sermon for today -- go forth and be righteous, just after our final hymn, number 130 in your book, "Just As I Am."
Politics is an extension of who we are as a culture. The values that inform our culture inform our politics.
Given no countervailing pressures, people tend to be selfish. This is evidenced in what is called the tragedy of the commons, where common resources are abused by selfish individuals.
I was watching a romantic comedy the other day (forget the title, my wife wanted to watch it). It was surprisingly good--not because it was particularly funny (and romance isn't really my thing in literature or movies) but because of the subtext--which was how one of the major characters always turned everything into being all about them.
Our culture and media (and media structures) have made us very self-centered and self-focused. There is minimal care or concern for the community or commons in swathes of our society (and actual anger when common concerns, like the environment, are pointed out).
Through in the death of shame on top of that and you geta toxic brew.
Well said. I agree with you that it is the latter, who we are determines our politics.
The rest of what you said has merit. And I agree with much of it. I know that history may tend to predict a less than favorable outcome of our current situation, such as a complete disintegration of the country as we know it. However we are a unique experiment, and we do have the good fortune of knowing history and how the authoritarians work.
I believe good folk are still the majority. Also so many groups that were formerly kept under society's boot heel now have some power, and visibility. They will not succumb easily nor go quietly. My fingers are crossed, and I say a prayer.