Why don’t we like one another as much now?

By Joel Snell

Numerous measures such as the Gallup Poll from 1966 indicated we valued our leaders, institutions and others.

Around the same time, for my master's thesis, I measured detachment and social depression about the wider society. The average response was that most people agreed there were some problems in the country, but for the most part life was OK among us. (Major Vietnam protests and violent civil rights would explode shortly after in that decade.)

Dick Meyers, a media analyst and author of “Why we hate us (2008),” is the first to admit that we have had problems with tension and division in the past and that it also occurs in other western societies. However, he describes the current irritants here in America. His observations appear to be incomplete but helpful.

First, he underlines nearly all the values on which most of us agree. A small amount deals with cultural issues that divide us. In other words, all of us agree on many values.

So let's begin with what causes divisions.

l Fake: You are looking at electronic media and wondering how much the person who is talking is true. You idealize small-town living, but you would rather experience it at a theme park. You feel like everyone has an agenda. You wear a watch that didn't cost much, but it did look costly; that's why you bought it.

People are taught how to be friendly and warm on television and in public when they are not. A number of athletes have children with strangers. All the above applies to some politicians.

We trust teachers to educate and support our kids. We find out some are sex predators. Big banks create funny money that brings down the world. Family-values folks are caught in a sex sting. Where are those heroes we need so much?

l Untied: Society has coarsened. Behavior and language of a rude portion of us has deviated downward. The “F” word is part of common parlance. What kind of civility can bring us together?

l Omni-media: We watch some kind of media almost all the time. They tell us what the world looks like with fast rotations of programs on 130 cable stations. Right now, someone is in your face, “get used to it.”

l Civic war: All kinds of violence are there at a turn of a switch. That includes hate radio, which is extremely divisive. How about watching one animal kill and eat another? Or a human killing another, and you can get instant replay of the killing?

l Omni-marketing: Can I make you feel small? There is a product that will help you feel better. There is something for every part of your body and your home. And it goes on. Some of the biggest sellers in print are about the scandals or shortcomings of others.

Meyers suggests character training, mental health support and some connection to community and the holy.

This is where I wrap up with 10 steps to a better something. Or, that we really had it great in the past, because memory can fail how some folks were treated badly.

On the other hand, I am not going to leave with it is obvious that things will go from bad to worse. Some incredible changes happen subtly and sometimes from a distance before they end up at our front door. Further, it is usually a number of things that changes our behavior.

So let's see what happens. By the way, what was the big story here in the States right before 9/11 occurred? Things could change. Just hang on.

Joel Snell of Cedar Rapids is professor of social science at Kirkwood Community College