Is this REALLY what we want??
By Bill Hessell
6/12/06


Let's step back for a moment from casting judgment on immediate political personalities and issues, and consider  some societal trends which have become all too prevalent during the past two decades, and which are having alarming and even devastating effects.  While our society and our way of life, most would agree, face increased threat from external sources, whether from extreme terrorists fomenting violent change or from potential environmental disasters we may be unable to prevent, major internal threats to our well-being exist too.  These internal threats have been escalating rapidly in recent years, and their insidious effects are tearing at the fabric of our society.  With all the focus on our external threats, little attention has been paid to threats arising from within.  Many accept them as natural societal changes, the price one pays for living in a time of heightened complexity and innovation.  Few ask whether these changes are ones we want to embrace, to allow to become accepted, permanent parts of our society.  Let me enumerate some of these internal threats, which may well equal or surpass any external threat in the long-term danger they pose to our society.


1) The Primacy of Money

Money, and the accumulation of property, is meant to play an important part in any free enterprise system, and that is not in itself a problem.  Excess greed, violation of accepted rules of conduct, and disregard for the effects of ones actions on the well-being of others does become a problem.  Many have experienced the tragic effects of money becoming too important to those in a race to rapidly acquire it.  If the only "bottom line" is the financial ledger sheet and achieving rapid success in gaining wealth, other values are being sacrificed in the process, and the casualties, both personal and societal, mount.  Profits, salaries, and bonuses can become obscene and out of sync with productivity and work expended.  Elections can be bought with money, through massive media exposure or through underhanded efforts to determine the outcome.  Government then becomes unwilling to take what steps it can to keep the playing field somewhat level.  In the context of a society where the middle class is shrinking and the number of those living below the poverty line is increasing, the fact that more people are acquiring massive amounts of wealth is not a positive development. When self-interest becomes too powerful, society as a whole suffers.


2) The Distortion of Morality

We have heard a lot in recent years about morality and values, but the issues being debated are typically very narrow and selective in their application.  People have every right to their own feelings about abortion, gender issues, sexual practices, use of profanity, etc., but these do not define the essence of ones "morality".  One rarely hears of the "Golden Rule" these days.  Is "do unto others as you would have them do unto you" an out-moded relic of past generations, or might it still reflect morality to the finest degree.  If the latter is true, those most vocal in preaching morality today are out of touch with true morality, and profess only a very distorted, self-defined version.


3) The Obsession with Winning

Competition can be exhilarating and enjoyable, and winning can be desirable.  When it becomes all-important, though, the results are anything but desirable.  The old saying "Its not whether you win or lose, its how you play the game" is rarely heard these days, and the consequences are unfortunate.  The ethic "winning isn't just the best thing, it is the only thing" leads to other values being negated, and an "anything goes" mentality results.  Sports, politics, business, and social interactions are all full of examples of fair and accepted guidelines of conduct being compromised by those whose are obsessed by their need to win, no matter what nefarious tactic or banned procedure they might employ to reach their end.


4)  The Disparity between the Haves and the Have-nots

The growing income difference between the very wealthy and those struggling to survive financially has already been mentioned, but deserves to be highlighted on its own.  Do we really want to be a part of a society that has a relatively small privileged class living in luxury while a large underclass has difficulty meeting their basic health, welfare, and survival needs?  Most other advanced nations have provided a much better safety net for their citizens to have some assurance that their minimal needs will be met.  Patriotism ideally shouldn't refer just to loving ones country, but also feeling a part of a larger community of citizens and wanting to act in the best interests of the entire community.  Policies that enrich the few are often at the expense of the many, and serve to exacerbate extreme differences in wealth.  Increased crime, social strife, and personal suffering are among the obvious consequences.


5)  The Erosion of Privacy

Encroachments on ones right to privacy have become commonplace in recent years, as the media, the courts, financial institutions, and the government have all not only allowed but have promoted incursions into areas of ones personal life that were previously considered sacrosanct.  The public, in its curiosity for gossip and inside details of others' lives, has fostered this diminution of areas that were considered ones private domain, free from surveillance by others as long as no laws or rights of others were being violated.  We are all being violated by these encroachments on our right to privacy.


6)  The Glorification of Violence

The occurrence of violence has all too often become not just a tragic, hopefully infrequent reality of life, but a source of entertainment and something actively pursued.  Movies, television, and some sports go out of their way to depict and magnify acts of violence, and audiences, unfortunately to my mind, have few compunctions to enjoy the outbursts of rage and destruction.  Is it unexpected, then, that there has been an increase in violence being witnessed in our daily lives, and not just on the screen or in the arena?  The ultimate by-product of violence is destruction and death, and one has to be concerned that the incidence of these occurrences are becoming so commonplace in our society.

The above factors are among the alarming trends that our society has been experiencing increasingly in recent years.  Before these trends become more acute than they already are, and certainly before they become hopelessly chronic, it may be well for all of us ask, is this really what we want?  We may be at, or near, a crossroads.  Reversing trends would not be easy, even if an energized majority desires it.  One thing for certain, though,  if the trends are not acknowledged and challenged, they may well lead to consequences which would not be positive for any of us, or for our society as a whole.