Broken
We are a citizenry that seems to live and die by our Google searches. A quick Google search on civil war demonstrates that numerous people are thinking about it. Truth be told though, those fault lines have always been there. Conflicts have always been a part of our culture. You can identify historical periods based on where those conflicts arise.
You do that because you know full well that some of the conflicts we currently have weren’t major considerations before. LGTBQ+ rights have always been important, but those battles weren’t fought 20 and 30 years ago when my generation came of age. People always have worried about illegal immigration and undocumented peoples, but it could hardly be called a crisis back in those days.
Sometimes things happen to make these conflicts front and center. Sometimes their rights and needs evolve to the point where a conflict is unavoidable. Sometimes whoever they is decides it is time to break out of the shadows. Sometimes new issues arise that have to be addressed. This is a natural part of history that can’t be avoided.
The usual course of these things is that those other issues that were being debated suddenly aren’t anymore. The battles of the 1950s and 1960s gave way to other battles in the 1970s and 1980s. Then, new issues arose in the 1990s and 2000s. One or two issues came forward and those others naturally took a backseat. It’s not that they became less important or solved necessarily, but we seemingly made enough progress to at least set it aside for awhile.
If we were to characterize this age we would say that everyone has picked sides on everything and everything is a burgeoning crisis. Obviously women’s rights have become front and center as it pertains to the roll back of abortion rights. We still see African Americans and other minority groups still concerned deeply about policing and how suspects get treated. The LGTBQ+ community is still battling for recognition of their rights and what that looks like in different situations. Then, we have all the folks standing on one side or the other in the fight over income inequality.
The last part is part of the change. We seemingly stand on one side or another on all of these issues. The usual course is that for most of these issues we are standing on the sidelines. It’s not that we don’t care, but that it doesn’t directly impact us. We might consider ourselves allies to one side or another, but it really isn’t our fight. Now, we seem to fight about everything.
If one of us is being held back on these fronts then we all are being held back. If black lives matter then all lives matter. If women get autonomy over their own bodies then we all do. If transgender people get to feel safe in their chosen identities then we all do. So, supporting the fight on the side you believe pushes us all forward. Either it pushes us forward or keeps us from running headlong over the cliff.
All that being said, people need a break from fighting all the time. Not everything can be a battle. Something must unite us. Something must make us come together to acknowledge our shared humanity. Perhaps the worst sign of a coming civil war is the fact that more and more of these events are simply becoming another battle.
The pandemic might be the single defining event of this generation. It has become the “where were you when” moment. It is this generation’s Kennedy assassination. It is this generation’s Challenger explosion or fall of the Berlin Wall. It is this generation’s 9/11. Yet, the defining characteristic won’t be solidarity. It won’t be people coming together to defeat a faceless enemy. It won’t be people coming together at all. It will be yet another fault line drawn by forces not our own. Those forces aren’t us, but they are us at the same time. If you understand that contradiction then you are doing a whole lot better than me.
Well, now. I see what you are saying and yes I can bet a nickel on it being just that. I was hoping that technology, a/k/a television would be a good way to pull people together but I learned too soon that 9/11, to people way the hell out west or wherever, thought of that event as a very particularized experience that could only happen to city people living in New York City which apparently is not held in any kind of esteem by folks NOT from that city or state, or even the part of Pennsylvania where the plane went down, and frankly couldn’t care less about Washington D.C. as a place as legit as where they live. As snarky as that sounds, it is true. However, if any big trouble lands on them they will demand that the rest of the country rescue them. It is damn sad but way too true. You can see this attitude on The Hill when it comes to simple truths such as the 2020 presidential election was not fraudulent, or congress critters voting against their impoverished constituents when it comes to child care, etc.At least the slovenly, lazy folks located in (fill in the blank) aren’t getting a dime. Pure snobbery turns out not be pure at all.
1The problem is that web searches give people the illusion that they are knowledgable and literate when in fact they are not.
Imagine giving a first-grader a Kitchen Aid power mixer and a roomful of ingredients and no instruction and supervision and see what you get. Hint: It won’t be a cake.
Or a full rack of DeWalt power tools and building tools. Prediction: you won’t get a new deck.
So why would we expect Google to produce informed and supportable decisions?
2Nick I feel your concern for the state we find ourselves in. 72 years old is while to watch this unfold and not all of the years were in full awareness. What causes have preceded this are the results we are seeing. The loss of family structure with both parents having to work for what ever the reasons is for me what started the results we are seeing today. Daycare has replaced parental love and guidance . I remember telling a young engineer I was working with on a train one day that we had a good union job with great pay and benefits , so his wife could stay home and raise their children with the values they wanted instilled instead of an institution. Hell no she’s going to work ! The only way I have found to make any difference is by example. If you are raised amongst a bunch of Pirates your probably going to be a Pirate. I enjoy reading you articles and hope you will continue to lead by example.
3After reading this the first time, I had to get out my 1933 Comptons Encyclopedia and see what they thought the Civil War was about. If I were to sum it up, he word would have to be greed. Greedy slave owners wanted to continue to make money from almost free labor. Northerners wanted to make money by having stiff tariffs, that hurt the Southerners. I could go on but you get the picture. Things haven’t changed much since the 1860’s or 1933.
4I think Pogo said it best:
“We have met the enemy and they is us!”
Somehow we need to learn how to love each
5other, even if we continue not to like each other.
Whole thing could be seriously condensed.
6Nick, you need an editor or a lot less coffee.