HOW DID WE GET HERE?
The thriving intellectual climate, nurtured by New Deal policy that had loosened the bonds of poverty and expanded the American middle class was overwhelmed by the violence of the tumultuous ‘60’s. Manipulation of the system using hate and fear to further divisiveness became the weapons of the advocates of greed to unleash the demons of ignorance onto the national stage. This is a brief summary of how a forward thinking socially conscious culture became that of the polarization and dysfunction that defines America today.
THE LEGITIMIZATION OF IGNORANCE
The movie Inherit the Wind made a huge impression on me as a youngster. Based on the 1925 “monkey trial” in Tennessee, the 1960 film dramatized the true story of the trial of John Scopes, a small town teacher arrested for teaching Darwin’s Theory of Evolution in violation of state law. How medieval! This is 1960; today we live in a far more enlightened world…I thought!
Naiveté of youth
The naiveté of youth tends to place things in a very different perspective. The movie was released only 35 years after the event, a mere flash in the passage of time. And, as I found out as I spread my wings and traveled beyond my little universe, many Americans still refused to accept scientific reality. Their seemingly outdated beliefs were just not being given much exposure outside their own communities.
Society moving forward
In the world of 1960 society was moving ahead rapidly. Technology and progressive thought were the order of the day as we were moving forward in an ever more enlightened direction. New Deal thinking prevailed as lessons learned from the recent calamities of the Great Depression, World War II and the Holocaust dominated the national psyche. Planning for a bright future via the scientific method was the national discussion as equal rights and the eradication of poverty were the battlegrounds of the day. America was curing its ills and working toward creating the “ideal society”.
New Deal for America
The original New Deal administration of Franklin D. Roosevelt, elected at the height of the Great Depression in 1932, included those from the field of business as one would expect but also, more intellectuals than any that had preceded. President Roosevelt, having come from old money, was considered a “traitor to his class” for even thinking of allowing any sort of empowerment for the general public or such open-minded thought to take precedence in the national capital; heretofore the realm of the financial elite. The least corrupt administration in our history, it took a small but significant step toward the American ideal of “government of the people, by the people and for the people”.
The catch
After World War II impetus in fulfilling the American ideal accelerated. Fledgling television networks brought the news into our homes where we watched as issues played out before us; a major element in the movement for civil rights and later, the movement against the War in Viet Nam. Aah, but there was the catch; that war; the quagmire in Southeast Asia. The country became aroused, polarized and completely distracted from the mission. The evils of our government were displayed for all to see. Believers in the mission were completely turned off while ultra-patriots, those who accepted policy without question, stood up against them. The nation was divided along political as well as racial lines. The assassinations of charismatic leaders Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert Kennedy, and earlier of John Kennedy, decimated progressive leadership. Enter Richard Nixon and Spiro Agnew.
America at war with itself
1968 was a year of turmoil. The war in Viet Nam raged, Americans rose up and the inner cities continued to explode as the civil rights movement turned more and more violent. Young men wore their hair long; girls wore their skirts short. To those who opposed the war, an American flag on a lapel branded one an enemy of peace, truth and justice. America was at war with itself.
Outside the Democratic convention in Chicago, police bashed the heads of youthful protesters as the cameras rolled. Americans were sickened at the sight…and this was the party of progressives, of the New Deal, of civil rights, of the war on poverty. The candidate, Vice President Hubert Humphrey, an old New Dealer, was the nominee and made it one of the closest elections in history. But Nixon prevailed.
The damage was done
Before personal corruption doomed the entire ticket, irreparable damage had been done. Nixon kept an “enemies list” consisting of his political opponents and New Deal legislators, who he purged from office by pouring money against their campaigns. Perhaps the greatest harm was done to the American mindset however, by Vice President Agnew. His speeches, legitimizing “the silent majority” and condemning progressive thinkers as “effete snobs”, served to encourage the simple, those of backward thought, those steeped in ignorance, to literally come out of the closet. And the wheels were set in motion for the usurpation of our nation by the forces of ignorance and greed.
Cultural battles serve corporate greed
Ronald Reagan capitalized on this thinking by supporting the religious right and opening wide the doors for the exploitation of the public by corporate greed. More and more, encouragement was given to right wing fundamentalists. The Moral Majority, founded by Jerry Falwell in 1979 as an organ for right wing Christian fundamentalists to advance this agenda further legitimized those who would usurp the separation of church and state and impress their beliefs on others. Cultural battles became the norm, distracting from real issues while the economy was raped by corporate gluttony and entitlements for the people drastically reduced.
The Immoral Majority
The Moral Majority’s agenda was anything but moral, advocating a right wing political agenda that denied the needy as well as the rights of women and gays. Preaching their brand of morality, many televangelists took advantage of naïve believers to solicit money for their lavish lifestyles. Much of this came crashing down as many became embroiled in scandals. Yet, although greatly diminished, they still exist, preying on ignorance and providing false hope.
Journalism corrupted
Another phenomenon created in the Reagan years was right wing talk radio. Throughout this period, media was becoming more consolidated under corporate ownership and mindset as the FCC became more and more lax. The repeal, in 1987, of the Fairness Doctrine, which provided for equal time for opposing opinions on TV and radio stations, saw a deluge of commentators with right wing agendas flooding the airwaves. Disregarding the truth to further their agendas, Rush Limbaugh and others of like mind raised fiction to a level equal to fact as truth and falsehood blurred into simply differences of opinion. If the truth hurts, people could take comfort in believing the lie. After all, they heard it on the radio!
Corrupt politician crushes hope of progress
Among the greatest political disservices perpetrated on the American public up to that time was the “Gingrich Revolution” of 1994. Bill Clinton was elected in 1992 with the promise of creating a health plan for all Americans. Newt Gingrich, Congressman from Georgia, led the Republicans and the health industry in confusing the public and convincing them to defeat the plan and its advocates in government. A former history professor, he lectured on the radio, purposely distorting historical fact to prove his points, contributing directly to the Republicans gaining a majority in the House of Representatives for the first time in 40 years with Gingrich as Speaker. Need we mention the resulting fiasco?
Corporate greed dominates completely
The worst was yet to come however. George W. Bush promoted ignorance to the extreme to fulfill the excessive self-indulgence. Already diverted from pressing realities by cultural issues that should never have been part of the national political agenda, ignorance and greed was taken to the ultimate. The rights of women and gays were threatened further, medical research stifled in the name of religion and we were sent to war on a pack of lies.
The world was turned upside down as the “conservative” administration ran up a national debt of record proportions and financial institutions and corporations operated with little, if any, restraint creating a financial feeding frenzy among the haves at the expense of the nation. Whereas true conservatives believe in a balanced budget, the Bush administration appears to have been simply a horde of thieves out to rob the national economy. And now we suffer the results!
Me first, last and always
Most who lived through and learned the very harsh but extremely valuable lessons of the Great Depression, World War II and the Holocaust are dwindling rapidly in numbers and are long removed from occupying the seats of power. As these lessons have dimmed with the passage of time, new generations have increasingly embraced the concept of “me”. The New Deal creed of education, enlightenment and working together for common cause has been subverted to ignorance, greed and me, me, me! Knowledge has been downplayed while emphasis has been placed on the quest for financial gain.
Is there hope?
In 1960 we saw a brilliant future before us in a world ruled by science and enlightened thought. John F. Kennedy had said, “Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country.” And people believed.
Can we believe again? Can we overcome the ignorance that created the mindset of “me”? Can the damage to the American psyche be repaired?
Bay Currents 3/2009
HAVE WE HIT BOTTOM?
More than a decade later our downward spiral into the abyss of ignorance and greed has taken a huge leap. The upper echelons of corporate America indulge themselves with royal trappings while workers toil with diminishing rights as protection and safety of the public is further enfeebled. True and false have become simply differing opinions on the national stage as platforms have showcased anti-intellectual, anti-scientific thought. Our nation is drowning in a sea of dysfunction.
Lost hope but something gained
The Bush inspired Great Recression created the opportunity for the election of our first Prescient of color, the intellectual Barack Obama. Handicapped by a Republican Congress intent on thrusting the nation back to the Dark Ages and further enhancing corporate interests, he managed to provide a national health care plan and create protocols dealing with the environment, health and other issues for people and planet.
Donald who?
However, with the nation completely polarized and frustrations boiling over with many sections still suffering the effects of the Great Recession, Donald Trump was elected President of the United States, something that would at one time have made as little sense as electing Donald Duck. In his short time in office he has managed to foment hate and divisiveness within the nation, undermine the environment, alienate our allies, sell out our battlefield partners, play up to vicious dictators, undermine voting rights, and on and on and…
Moreover, as the global pandemic has engulfed our nation and spread wildly out of control, his failure has taken America to the forefront in cases and deaths as he has focused on opening the economy at great public risk while seeking revenge on his enemies and favors for his friends.
Is this the bottom?
The damage done to the American psyche has been immeasurable. It is astounding that we have a president devoid of principles, who defies all pretense of democratic government and human decency yet maintains 40% approval among the American public.
Rather than encourage awareness and self-protection, so many on the national stage promote ignorance and self-defeat, reinforced through the generations since the “silent majority” was encouraged to speak up against science and sanity.
In the midst of a global pandemic, Americans are defiantly refusing to take precautions as society shows its dark side. With decisions in the White House made by one who acts as a self-centered child and ignorance dominating regions of our nation, the United States continues to plummet into the void of self destructive oblivion.
Have we hit bottom? Can America be saved?
10/2020
The most important questions one can ask are why and how.
.
Pingback: BALANCE: JUSTICE AND ENFORCEMENT - To the Point