Numerous external threats also face our country, mainly
from North Korea, Russia, China and ISIS. In North Korea, Kim Jong-Un is a
murderous psychopath who keeps us all awake at night! Vladimir Putin, like
Joseph Stalin, is very much the evil genius adept at geopolitics. China is
striving to replace the United States as the world's superpower. An agent of
pure madness, ISIS is the vilest terror group on the face of the earth! The
results of these internal and external threats are negative emotions and
paranoia that we all feel, threatening to tear our nation apart.
People's lives are being disrupted and the resulting
psychological problems are further eroding our institutions and our society at
large. 2016 in America was a terrifying psycho-drama! Everyone is yelling and
screaming at each other, making life unbearable. Adults even have trouble
conducting themselves in public. We've had a troublesome history, are
experiencing a rough present, but will eventually reach a positive, harmonious
future. We've gone through difficult periods before in this country, and have
come out the other side. I'm confident that we will be able to do it again.
Today, there are fault lines of social and political
division. Race is tearing much of this nation apart. Various regions are at
odds with each other. Each region could really become its own country and
individuals from one region don't even want to visit some other regions. I, for
one, wouldn't want to visit Alabama right now, with Roy Moore headed for the
U.S. Senate from that state. Since 2000, the gulf between Red States and Blue
States has only widened and deepened, as the Florida recounts now seem like a kumbaya moment!
There is also an urban/rural divide that is a mile wide
and cannot be crossed. A 10-minute drive will transport you to a whole new
world. For this reason, there are sometimes culture clashes in both urban and
suburban areas. As examples, bikers sometimes visit hippie novelty shops and
left-wing activists visit suburban mega-churches.
Small-town America contrasts with diverse, cosmopolitan
cities. It includes the divide between country music and punk rock. I'm an
anomaly in that I consider myself a bohemian, but also like a country song from
time to time, especially if it's Johnny Cash! In suburban battlegrounds, the
past battles the future for domination of the present. The solution is to learn
from the past, while formulating a pragmatic plan for the future.
Worst of all, political ideology exploits these divisions
with emotional intensity. This is the San Andreas Fault of social division!
Politics is the key to one’s identity, because politics is about people and the
issues that matter to them. That is why politics is such a difficult topic, the
third rail of public conversation. In today’s world, politics is a catalyst
that pits groups of people against each other. Politics has become a blood
sport worthy of the Roman gladiators.
We in this country now behave like Israelis and
Palestinians. Republicans and Democrats don’t want to talk to each other, or
even to see each other. This creates awkward situations in public places, such
as sidewalks, coffee shops, bars and libraries. Our daily lives have become
stressful and intolerable.
Hateful ideologies make unity and cooperation impossible,
especially in the near term. Hatred and intolerance cannot be tolerated, due to
the threat that they pose, so both sides need to remain separated, often by a
buffer zone. This is most unfortunate, though. This is why street protests descend
into chaos!
The national mood is one of decadence and decay, creating
fear and anger. Many people today are afraid, fearing others and events that
may take place in the future. Fear always causes people to overreact, and often
paralyzes them, preventing them from going about their day-to-day lives. Others
are angry, causing distress in their emotional lives. People are lashing out,
getting irritated and showing very little patience. Hate is gaining ground, so
people are looking for excuses to lash out at others.
Hatred is the most destructive emotion of all, especially
when directed toward groups of innocent people. Hatred always leads to violence
and misery; that is why it is to be avoided at all costs! Hatred had been
festering beneath the surface for decades, was enhanced and exposed by the 2016
presidential election, and is now making civil society impossible.
Also, this is an era of extreme self-indulgence, with the
individual winning out over the community. Self-indulgence, in its essence, is
generally good thing, as long as it's not too destructive. We can enjoy the
pleasures of life without destroying other people. For this reason and others,
I do not believe that Hugh Hefner is burning in hell!
These shared feelings have their cultural fruits, for
good or ill. Fear has led many people to own and carry firearms. Anger has led
to aggressive driving, putting us all in peril. You never feel safe crossing
the street, even in a crosswalk! I’ve almost been run over a number of times,
and I know several people who have been hit by cars - always victims of
hit-and-run situations. Many drivers today have the attitude that they'll run
over any pedestrian that gets in their way, and then take off before police
arrive!
Hatred has led to a rise in violent crime, including a
greater number of hate crimes. We now have a rash of mass shootings, terrorist
attacks and individuals terrorizing racial and religious minorities, through
"trolling" on the Internet and in person. This a very real problem
with neo-Nazis and white supremacists attacking people across the country. This
has been spawned by the hateful rhetoric of individuals like Richard B.
Spencer, David Duke and Matt Heimbach.
Finally, unlimited self-indulgence has created America's
crisis of personal debt. In America, we have an epidemic of credit card debt,
families buying cars and houses that are too expensive and gargantuan student
loans. It is an attitude of "buy now and spend later." It’s really a
lack of personal responsibility.
In our world, the Internet is acting as a catalyst for
change. Romantic love has changed as people look for sex and relationships
online. The "hookup generation" has become the "adultery
generation!" Marriage is becoming obsolete, replaced by a serious of
supremely satisfying sexual liaisons. There is something positive to these
changes, though, because we as a people can finally overcome the repressive
Puritanical sexual mores of our past. That is why it is good that individuals
such as Dr. Alfred Kinsey and Hugh Hefner have challenged America's Puritan
excesses. Sex is not evil, it is natural!
Another effect of the Internet is that our private lives
have been made public. Many people no longer have their dark secrets, but share
all their vices and prejudices with the entire world! If you talk to a person
for 5 minutes, and then add them on Facebook, you get to learn their political
leanings, see vacation pictures of them, learn about their stool samples, get
to know who all their friends are and see what their children look like. This
reality does facilitate social interaction and create new friendships and
relationships. It also, however, gives Big Brother the tools to keep tabs on
each citizen. Luckily, social media also gives us the tools to criticize the
government and influence public opinion.
Due to the prominence of the Internet, local trends and
fads spread very rapidly through the global population. These include sayings,
goofy memes, and things such as "twerking." Miley Cyrus popularized
twerking and, soon, everyone was doing this on social media! There are
varieties of human behavior and the Internet accelerates these differences to a
fever pitch. This confuses people, overwhelms them and sometimes leads them to
withdraw from meaningful social interactions. Either they withdraw or they act
out inappropriately, reverting to the lowest common denominator of human
behavior.
Mankind has two natures: its aggressive nature and its
social nature. Man's basic human nature always reigns supreme, no matter what
era or society we are talking about. There are only so many variations on
animal human behavior. In our era, however, we may be returning to a
"state of nature," a more primitive form of existence that is worthy
of prehistoric man. Our aggressive nature is based upon our drive for survival
and reproduction.
Aggression has a major, necessary evolutionary role in
human society, though it's excesses cause all of us problems, whether it be verbal or physical aggression. This
excess of physical aggression is manifest by fistfights and shoving in public places,
along with the threat of violence or physical confrontation. The sex drive is
part of our aggressive nature and unfortunately can be tied in with acts of both verbal and
physical aggression.
Our social nature also preserves the human race, as well
as our daily lives. It ensures our survival as a group, especially when facing
an uncertain and dangerous world. Our social nature also makes life worth
living and separates us from the other animals. It was this that held
prehistoric tribes together in a time of constant danger.
Both of these natures conflict with each other. We can't
let either nature win, or we will all be unhappy. We face the extremes of
either letting other people walk all over us, or of completely disregarding
everything that is good and beautiful in life. The wisest people steer the
middle course, sticking to the double yellow line of moderation. This conflict
creates confusion in our daily lives, as our ids are constantly in battle with
our egos and superegos. In this way, I am a Freudian!
Despite the fear and despair some of us feel - and the
other factors coming together to change society, there are difficult solutions
we can find to create a hopeful future for our world. Vices are not as
dangerous as the threat posed by unbridled aggression. Vices are fun and
necessary, but unbridled aggression will end mankind's existence on this
planet. I'd rather deal with a man who drinks and womanizes than one who is
chaste and sober, but nasty, violent and bigoted! We can solve the world's
problems by creating a new social contract, thus preserving all of our human
societies.
In this way, I side with Thomas Hobbes, writer of the Leviathan,
in the hope that life won't become "short, brutish and nasty." The
old social contract is breaking down, so we need a new one in order to survive
as a society. I'm sure that we will be able to do this, so our shared future
will improve over the next 10 to 20 years, or so.
