NOW This, By Spence
NOW This, By Spence
Can We Be Decent?
It's been difficult.
This year — this unforgettable year we wish we could forget — continues to ruin our societal psyche. We are Sonny Liston under Muhammad Ali, cowering on the mat and waiting for the bell. Just when you think it absolutely cannot get any worse, it finds a way. Wildfires, hurricanes, murder hornets, Joe Exotic and a global pandemic. Future students of history will look at 2020 and marvel at how America, and the world, forged through this unprecedented gauntlet.
Yeah, it's been difficult.
And now, the election. We continue to hear that no election in the history of the United States is as important as this one. “The future of America depends on your vote,” the pundits say, as if the country will magically vanish into thin air if you don’t choose wisely. Their agenda, driven by ratings or clicks or personal interests, lead them to push for the candidate of their choice. If you think differently, you will be cancelled.
And that’s what we have become. A nation of screamers. Our collective decency has been held hostage by talking heads on digital screens, forcing us to choose a side and dig in for a long fight none of us asked for. Avatars scream into the social media vacuum, peddling deceitful memes and out-of-context headlines hoping to do nothing but strike a nerve. The problem only intensifies as Russian, Chinese and Iranian disrupters hellbent on creating chaos sow seeds of dissent amongst us.
This isn’t America. This is a circus, predicated on how many views carnival barkers can rack up on their spiteful hot takes. This is a society being ripped apart at the seams by a monster of our own creation. This year is the antithesis of the days after September 11th, when nothing — nothing — could come between us. This is division at full throttle with no light at the end of the tunnel.
We hear constantly of the erosion of our American Exceptionalism. We politicized a global health crisis. Brands that utilize Asian sweatshops hijacked Black Lives Matter, turning a current-day civil rights movement into a tagline for profit. California’s tech giants allow misinformation to spread like the wildfires laying waste to their state. Internet mobs zero in on dissenters like vultures to a carcass, suppressing anything they deem unfit.
What happened to our decency? Have we strayed so far from the path that we resort to baseless name calling because someone disagrees with us? Is our time so invaluable that we spend days glued to our screens, arguing pointlessly with strangers we’ll never meet whose minds we’ll never change? Would we act this way in front of our parents, or peers, or children? Can we ever be decent with each other again?
The advent of instant, at-our-fingers communication — when anyone can say anything, to anyone, at any time — leads to ill-tempered insults hurled at fellow Americans because they simply disagree. Opinions aren’t changed after reading Facebook comments, but with thoughtful discourse spoken as adults.
If the pandemic has taught us anything, it’s that we can be better. That we must be better. Better neighbors, better listeners, better researchers, better people. We’ve seen the very best of humanity overshadowed by constant infighting. We should be ashamed.
This election is the most polarizing of a generation. You may hate one candidate, or both candidates. You may be so disgusted by the choices you choose not to vote. What sets America apart from the Russias and Saudi Arabias of the world is our peaceful transition of power every four years. The winner will be the winner, and the people’s voice will be heard. It might not be your choice, but it is your duty as an American to respect it.
America could be synonymous with decency. Our country’s greatest moments are defined by the collective heart and sacrifice of those who understood the common good outweighed petty differences. We can make decency an American institution if we dig our heels in a little less, listen instead of scream and relearn to respect at the most fundamental level. Today can be the first step back towards making decency — not division — the defining trait of our nation. We may just become the America we expect of ourselves.
