The following is presented as part of The Columbian’s Opinion content, which offers a point of view in order to provoke thought and debate of civic issues. Opinions represent the viewpoint of the author. Unsigned editorials represent the consensus opinion of The Columbian’s editorial board, which operates independently of the news department.
Politicians like to say there is more that unites us than divides us. That may be true, but not necessarily in a good way.
Or maybe the bigger truth is that there are two countries in the U.S. One’s motto is “Every man for himself.” The other’s: “Leave no man behind.”
We may now live in the confusing, dyspeptic world of both.
We have changed.
We are less naive, but more selfish. We used to think that sending our American soldiers to foreign lands could resolve centuries of feuding and inhumane treatment of one people by another, often because of religious differences. Now, in exchange for the blood, sweat and tears of our young men and women, we demand money or oil or some form of payment.
We used to be admired for friendliness and acceptance of strangers. Fewer of us welcome the downtrodden, displaced and disheartened to our shores. Officially, if you don’t have money, this country does not want you.
We are less loyal. We reject old allies because they hold mirrors to our faces; we scorn them as useless. We form hateful alliances with demagogues and dictators who flatter, intimidate and entice us with access to their markets or resources.
We used to believe we could export democracy. Now we are not even sure what democracy is. The candidate with the most votes does not always win. Our courts do not always protect the concept of one person, one vote, especially if that person is old, of a different color, of a different belief system, of a different ancestry, or someone in a pandemic who mails in her ballot.
We have less respect for each other. Thousands of us refuse to wear masks because we don’t care that we might inadvertently make someone sick enough to die or spend weeks on a ventilator or carry the virus home to a vulnerable relative. Freedom’s just another word for letting someone else lose everything.
We think uncouth behavior is funny and tolerable. We shrug our shoulders in indifference to vulgarity. Once we tried to root out corruption. Now we look away.
Mendacity is OK. We punish children for lying but many of us expect adults to prevaricate without consequence. We don’t yearn for truth.
We subscribe to ridiculous conspiracy theories because we have nothing to rely on, no inner core and no commonsense voice whispering, “This is nonsense.” We have given up on logic.
Ignorance does not disturb us. Fewer of us respect learning. We do not try to find out what is going on in our world. We isolate ourselves and seem to relish how provincial we have become.
We present ourselves to much of the rest of the world as bigoted and soulless.
This country is not the same as it was four years ago. History will decide if that’s partly good or all bad.
At least, a lot of us voted.
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