When postmodern American society dies, everyone will rush to write the autopsy.
Journalists will focus on whatever was going on right before the end. Historians will frame the story in light of the decades before. Economists will talk about income inequality or GDP or national debt. Sociologists might talk about groups they saw as oppressive. Theologians might say we lost faith in God.
There will be some truth in many of those things — and many others — but I suspect the core truth will be found by something they’ll all overlook.
Individuals became so selfish that they were no longer willing to treat strangers with respect and decency.
Something has changed about how people treat each other today. We’re not as polite. We’ve lost the sort of manners that used to be expected among strangers in middle-class society. We believe that only suckers are honest if cheating will bring an advantage.
No society has ever been perfect about any of these things, but fewer and fewer people in postmodern America stick to the “social script” that used to allow us to feel a sense of community.
We’ve lost our way — our values — and unless those things radically change, our society will fail.
Finding joy brings more happiness than the empty pursuit of pleasure
When times turn too dark in my life, I’m grateful for furry antidepressant
As the gods of this world die off, we face a profound crisis of faith
Maturity sees world’s ugliness with more melancholy than anger
When Demopublicans and Republicrats clash, you lose
We repeat what we fail to repair, so I keep re-learning old lessons
Creative process isn’t pretty, but it provides real joy when it works
‘Winner-take-all’ culture fuels hatred in debate about our future