(Editor’s note: This is the 5th of 10 articles serializing Executive Editor Michael Ryan’s ebook YouRule: How Saving America Depends Entirely on You And What You Can Do About It.)
The decay of our civic infrastructure started in earnest in the 1960s, the legendarily turbulent decade that saw the heyday of the divisive and uber-unpopular Vietnam War; the profoundly righteous but bloody struggle for Civil Rights; a parallel crusade for women’s rights; a shocking series of assassinations that broke our hearts and fractured our foundation; and a subsequent surging cynicism that you can still hear in the anguished and rebellious music of the time and see in the careworn faces of the decade’s survivors.
Our cynical and dishonest government—think Pentagon Papers and Watergate—fed that growing cynicism like sugar feeds yeast. The mantra of the 1970s in journalistic circles became “Question Authority.” Our young had asked pointed questions of society and society’s answers were sorely lacking, to put it mildly.
There also were less-discordant, even positive forces at the same time that served to erode our civic infrastructure and fray the kind of public cohesion we’d enjoyed in the aftermath of World War II, including:
- Mobility and sprawl, which physically separated cities, suburbs and citizens.
- Television and air-conditioning, both of which enticed us inside and off the front porch.
- The conjoined twins of affluence and materialism, which today induce Black Friday brawls the day after we express thanks for all we have.
- The kinds of clubs we join: Whereas the World War II generation joined Rotary, Kiwanis, Lions, the American Legion and other clubs dedicated to serving others, now we seek membership in such far-flung organizations as AARP (formerly the American Association of Retired Persons) to get ourselves discounts and other benefits. Plus there are no meetings to go to, so there’s no socializing with our fellow club members.
There’s a decided difference, too, in the kind of Americana being taught in schools: While previous generations were undoubtedly fed a romanticized version of American history, a scan of recent text books and eye-opening conversations with some educators indicates that the politically correct pendulum has swung too far toward the “America’s Warts” side.
Indeed, Howard Zinn’s book—A People’s History of the United States, perhaps the most influential history book for the past two generations of Americans—has been called by critics a “hatchet job” on America. Zinn himself acknowledged that, in effect, he set out to even an old score with historians:
“The mountain of history books under which we all stand leans so heavily in the other direction—so tremblingly respectful of states and statesmen and so disrespectful, by inattention, to people’s movements—that we need some counterforce to avoid being crushed into submission.”
Really? Is that the way to approach the recording of history—taking a side in an argument? Wouldn’t that just encourage one to leave out facts that tend to contradict one’s preconceived narrative? Nor can focusing only on the country’s shortcomings help civic cohesiveness or national pride. And it sure gives short shrift to America’s distinct and discernible exceptionality.
If this kind of erosion were happening to the street outside your house, you’d rightly be on the phone to the local Road and Bridges Department. But it’s happening all the same just outside your picture window—to the civic infrastructure of the country you love.
Next: What’s our “civic infrastructure,” and where do we start to fix it?
About the Author
Michael F. Ryan is executive editor of The Heartlander, as well as a longtime newspaper journalist and editorial writer, frequent speaker, and author of the international novel The Last Freedom on Holocaust survivor Viktor Frankl.
His award-winning work has appeared in newspapers and magazines since the 1980s, as he has made a decades-long study of civic engagement and its decline.
The full YouRule! ebook is available for 99 cents at either BookBaby or Amazon.
