This country of my birth currently registers sounds of self-destruction. Voices clamor for distinction by claiming laws don't apply to the executive branch - up to and including the timely reporting of a firearm accident that landed a victim in the hospital. Senators and congress people vote to adhere to party lines rather than the rule of law or personal ethics. Public discussions wallow in personal attacks rather than issue exploration. Have we forgotten how to talk? Did we ever know how?
In my world, a public sea change occured sometime in the eighties. Talk radio hosts degraded and demeaned public officials they did not admire or support. Disrespect was also heaped upon callers they did not agree with. Groups of people were lumped together and attacked, mocked and denounced. Animosity became publically acceptable. Somehow, it was no longer respectable to agree to disagree or even listen to another's point of view. Callers were shouted down. I didn't spend a lot of time with the radio programs; I listened wondering where they came from and how long they would last. Amazingly, their popularity soared and listeners would call in to be ridiculed or to try to shout louder than the host. It was outrageous radio. Everybody could be outraged - whether you agreed with the host or not.
This attitude and approach swept to new levels during the nineties and the Clinton presidency. No longer was the office of the president given respect; the man was attacked. Unfortunately, by lying to the public about his intimate relations with an intern, he left himself wide open, but the feeding frenzy from all fronts was unprecedented. In truth, nothing was given respect except for the ideas, flagrantly assumed to be held by everyone, of the host. From a financial and foreign policy perspective, our country was more stable than it had been in years, yet those topics lay fallow beneath the soil. Instead, outrage swamped the news broadcasts, television talk shows, and newspapers. A habit of outrage gleefully washed over all public discourse.
I did note the partisan sway; the "us versus them" mentality became the order of the day. Winning at all costs became celebrated. Michiavelli would be proud: the ends justified the means. Yet, who or what wins? What is our common goal? Do we have one? And even though one party holds all of the power today, what of tomorrow? Will the other party adopt the same behavior to win? Can a country survive with outrage as its source of sustenance?
Today, I suspect we have reached a climax socially and politically. We are viewing all of the disparities that were hidden in the past. That is, as a country of social and racial diversity, hatred, fear, elitism, disgust, and even outrage have long festered between groups of people all across this land. One of the most outstanding qualities about the United States of America is our diversity, and we are all-too-obviously still trying to figure out how to live within it. It lies in the swamped soil of Social Security, Medicare, health care, living wages, foreign policy, and individual privacy. Are we willing to trust and support one another in the journey of life, or do we seek to undercut, betray, and cheat others in order to produce gain for our side (political party, state, racial group, gender, age group, economic level, international posture, etc.)? If we will support one another - by how much?
In other words, this public display of outrageous behavior, media spin, constitutional abuse, and flagrant financial misappropriation is the apex of what has come before. These were hidden behaviors once allowed only behind the closed doors of the president, congress and the senate until they swelled to epic proportions for all to see. The mockery once secretly held within the confines of families, church services, union meetings, special interests, or political caucases reigns the land. We now see the worst of what we are. What do we want to be?
Ultimately, outrage can produce a healthy outcome. Not outrage at people, for that produces violence. Nor outrage at institutions for they morph into something different but the same (case in point: congress and campaign finance laws). Outrage at outrage. By recognizing the outrage, the lies, the manipulations, and instead honoring our own perceptions, we can demand respect. Of course, we must give respect as well and not get caught in the ready-made trap of reaction. Once we fall into outrage we lose our sense of individuality and awareness. Instead, listen. Feel the energy being directed at you; sense the weight of the anchor designed to drown you in the swamp.
As a nation of individuals the time has come to honor ourselves. We can no longer abide political representatives who lie, steal, and cheat. If that is our national definition of politician, it is time to change the framework. We can no longer stay connected to groups who seek to harm others or take away their rights, for when we do, we dishonor ourselves. When respect is not given, we must acknowledge our personal outrage, and turn away. To continue to follow the party line, or the church line, or the family line when we know it is neither honorable nor truthful, we betray the
Essense of our being. As individuals, we must turn away in peaceful protest. We are testing ourselves, like no nation before us, one citizen at a time.
We are not a nation of public groups. We are not a nation of political affiliations, red or blue states, conservative or liberal. No public group stands by your bed when you die. No amount of political prestige or power wipes your brow when pain wracks your body with illness. Righteousness and false pride evaporate like a morning mist when confronted with simple inner clarity. We are a nation of individuals. We are born alone, and we die alone. What we do individually, between those literal, inexplicable points, creates a nation. As we honor what we know to be right and just, the outrage will ebb. We are unmasking the illusions of dishonor, denigration, and despair fostered by outrage. We can not afford it - literally as well as figuratively. In the aftermath, like the flooding of a river in a broad valley, the soil will be more fertile than ever. We will finally grow a nation based upon our founding fathers' ideals: respect, integrity, honesty, and trust.
It begins with me and you, not them.
