Want a better country? Expand your community. [View all]

[20score]

In these days of constant misinformation, scapegoating and mean-spirited politics from Fox and right-wing radio; plus infotainment and corporatism from most other media, it’s hard to make improvements to our culture. And we have been on an ever increasingly downward trajectory since the terror attacks of 2001. (Arguably for a generation before that, but at nowhere near this level of decline.)

More open and hostile racism, politicians brought into the same, ‘Free Market’ as our toys and clothes; Total Information Awareness, where everything one does, says, writes, buys, and all contacts are examined and everywhere one goes is tracked and stored; whistle-blowers are prosecuted at a never before seen rate; militarized and abusive police are the norm; theft of billions by a handful of people goes unpunished while debtor-prisons (at least people are being put in prison for debts) are making a comeback; the social safety net has more wholes poked in it every month; these things are just a small sample our pathological decline. But within the old rhetoric describing who we believe ourselves to be, is an answer to some of the problems we face.

Treason is looked upon as the worst of crimes for a reason. People are willing to spend almost anything on defense; and in the case of an actual threat to the nation, like World War II, we will pull together and sacrifice for the common good. Why? Because in situations like WWII, we all rise and fall together as a community. For many, that feeling of community only applies to war and national security.

The right likes to live partially in the past, in a world that never really existed. At least in a world where the sins of the past are white-washed or ignored. Where every town is a little like Mayberry and we all help each other in times of need. That past was never a reality throughout the entire country, but in pockets people did do the right thing by each other (and still do in Amish Country), because they felt they were in this together.

If we can take that feeling of camaraderie and expand it through ever increasingly large circles, we will have a better country for all. When we view through a patriotic lens the problems people face in poor areas, in a drug war that does little but destroy lives, homelessness, mental illness, discrimination, etc., we will all be the better for it.

If people start to expand their circle of empathy beyond their area, race, sexual orientation, religion and political affiliation, and apply the standards of country outside of war, we will come much closer to our promise and reverse an almost generation of decline.