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How Did We Sink So Low?
And How Can We Become a Decent Society?
Today, we live in a society which seems to have broken down, where concepts of civility/courtesy, respect for others, the ability to disagree without being disagreeable, the ability to focus on what united us rather than on the symbols of division, have all disappeared. The question is: what prompted this sad decay of America’s culture?
A Moral Culture
Prior to 1945, in America we had institutionalized a moral culture. Let me define that term.
A moral culture was one where there were standards of behavior, of speech, of attitudes, which governed our collective way of life. These standards were the predominant social norms, the morés by which we lived. These community conventions were the guidelines for living together. Certain ways of speaking, of believing, and of acting characterized our neighborhoods, towns, states, and country. Following the guidelines meant that we enjoyed the imprimatur of social acceptance in our society and that we were essentially good people.
Human beings are social animals. We live in groups for survival, true, but also to find acceptance and validity as people. Abraham Maslow, in his “hierarchy of needs,” defined physical needs as primary, i.e., food, water, and air came before safety and security, which preceded having…
