American Culture in the Trump Era

I may be turning into an old curmudgeon, but it seems American culture is deteriorating in front of our eyes.

The center will no longer hold.  American culture has always been held together by an idea.  We have not been bound by our various ethnic identities, nor by our religious commitments, nor by our economic status, nor by our political views.  We unite around the idea that “all men are created equal and are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights.”  Despite our differences we are supposed to respect and tolerate each other.  This idea is at the center. 

But does the center still cohere?  What if we are lost, no longer sure about our democracy, our religious faiths, our President, our government, our fellow citizens, our military strength, our liberties, our right to privacy, our place in the world, and the stunning value of being an American citizen? 

The culture seems bored out of its collective mind.  We are the richest land on the planet, yet many people seem depressed and running to get stoned in whatever way they can find.  When I say “stoned” I mean so many seem desperate to escape by whatever means are available, from TV with its myriad options upon options, Amazon, to HULU to Acorn to the great Netflix.  You could sit in front of the tube all day and still not watch everything “you have to see” to not fall behind.  We run to escape from the emptiness of life through all sorts of drugs legal and illegal, social media with its inexhaustible sites, the newest action video games, anything that will get us away from the next minute of having to face ourselves.

While a part of me thinks what I just wrote above is true, another voice in my head says, you are too close to the culture to really know what is going on.  This voice wants to argue, you are being catastrophic, pessimistic and cynical.  It may not be that bad or any worse than it’s ever been.  

This other voice lectures me.  American culture, our democracy, as always, is wrestling between liberty and order. We are unsure about the limits, and more precisely the moral limits, so we push and pull from either side.  Some are eager for more change.  Others think we have changed too much.  Many in the middle are confused.  The politicians seem lost, corrupt or cowardly.  Such times bring out the buffoons, the haters and extremists.  And the more unsure we get, the harder the struggle and animus between the sides.  This too shall pass.  

I answer, perhaps, but at what cost?

 So, which is correct?  The side that thinks our culture is deteriorating or the side that says this is what we do, and we will be better off for having walked through the mess?  I hope for the latter but fear the former.