Societal Evolutions

Mass shootings, police killing unarmed black men, police being shot and killed while attempting to help, shooting of TV personnel on air.   Scary and tragic events, scary and tragic times.

That got me to thinking on where we are today in the United States, and where we are in the cycles of societal evolution.

I subscribe to the belief that societies cycle through different phases, and the norms of the society are different in the different phases.  If I look at the short-term, or the cycles of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries (so far), I would characterize the cycles as:

Cynicism and distrust
Increasing regulation
Increasing gratification
Crisis
Focus
Prosperity
Cynicism and distrust
Increasing regulation
Increasing gratification

I think we are in the increasing gratification phase of the cycles, and that crisis will result.  Why do I think we are in the increasing gratification phase of the cycle?

Traffic deaths are up, anecdotally related to cell phone usage.  We are willing to die for the immediate gratification of a text or phone call.

Gun violence is increasing.  I am affronted in some way, and I will immediately punish the guilty party.

Politicians who scorn compromise and prefer the immediate gratification of claiming victory over policies that are in the best interest of  the American people.

Bigger houses, bigger cars, more stuff for those who are thriving in this phase.

More hunger, more crime, more despair for those who are not thriving.

A new psychological phenomenon called Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) which has people compulsively checking devices to make certain they haven't missed an important text, tweet or post.

And a bizarre belief among those who are doing well that they "created" this life they are living.   No credit given to the accidents of birth that made it easier for them to get the life they have.  (See Privilege.)

I can't predict what crisis will be precipitated by this cycle, but in the twentieth century, the crisis was economic collapse, followed by war.

I don't like the idea of evolving into crisis.

There are those that could argue that we are still in the crisis of the 2008 economic collapse, and that we will soon enter the focus portion of the cycle.

In a way, this is what happened along the Gulf Coast after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.  Out of the unimaginable devastation, people pulled together, helped each other, cared about working together to rebuild our region.  Unfortunately, the larger societal macrocosm of the United States influences our little microcosm.

The hope and sense of community are eroding as we move further in time from the crisis, and we are being absorbed back into the overwhelming culture of anger and distrust that is rampant in the United States today.

Second Amendment defenders out shout anyone who wants to have a reasonable conversation on gun control.  Mental health advocates admit we have a mental health care crisis, but get strident in their insistence (rightly so) that we do not demonize the mentally ill.  Many people say the problem is just too big, and despair of solving it, letting each subsequent tragedy garner its 15 minutes of fame before moving on to the next media created sensation.

So, what do we do?  I think we start by redirecting the conversations we have away from conflict and violence and towards compromise and reconciliation.

The Grand Canyon was created by the Colorado River.  We need to be like water on rock in our steady and consistent conversation on peaceful disagreement.   On compromise.   We need to teach the children in our lives that fighting doesn't solve anything, and that compromise is a beautiful thing.   We need to all work on our emotional control, and when we feel we are about to lose control, we need to find healthy outlets for our emotions that are not destructive.

We need to try as hard as we can to see the other person's perspective.   If we can learn to acknowledge everyone's feelings as valid, we have created a platform for understanding.

I don't want to see us evolve into crisis, although it may be too late.  I believe that there is amazing power in every human to change the course of history.

Please - tone down the dialogue.  Seek to understand, rather than to argue.  Hold elected leaders and the media responsible to treat each other and us with respect.  Stop listening when people shout.  If words can't be carefully delivered in a reasonable tone of voice, they should have no meaning.

Be a force for positive change.  Be unrelenting in your commitment to peaceful compromise and understanding.  Do as much good for others as you can.   We can make it a better world.