Days Norman Rockwell
 |
 Norman Rockwell Teacher Print SCHOOL DAYS  US $12.99
|
 HALCYON DAYS NORMAN ROCKWELL BEFORE THE SHOT LE BOX US $275.00
|
 HALCYON DAYS NORMAN ROCKWELL FREEDOM FROM FEAR LE BOX US $345.00
|
| Powered by phpBay Pro |
What do you think is responsible for our 'holiday blues'?
Is it the false sense of a 'perfect' holiday instilled in us by Norman Rockwell paintings?
Or perhaps the holly jolly Burl Ives & Bing Crosby Xmas music from days passed making us feel like we're missing something special?
Is it that our families never live up to the 'happy nuclear family' that has been presented to us in holiday movies? ("It's a Wonderful Life" or even "A Christmas Story")
Is it dreading the fact we have to get together with family members we don't like, but we have to 'play nice' for the holidays?
Does being alone or married affect this question?
Or having kids?
Why, do you think, so many people get so depressed around the holidays?
Because Football is almost over. *sniff*
Norman Rockwell. . .we're not
America's Fading Decency
It is the morning after the President's speech asking our polarized nation to come together and heal after the assassination attempt on Senator Gabby Giffords in Arizona and the death of so many, including a bright and curious little girl. As I sip my coffee and watch the morning news unfold, and read the tweets and other online comments about the president's speech, I started to ponder the ideals that my parents (who passed away recently) always held sacred. What would they have said and thought - clearly imagining their horror and outrage at this latest classic American shooting spree. Horror and outrage based on the ideals that my sisters and I were raised with, and in so doing, I started to darkly ruminate on what it was that once made America great, in the days of "yore".
Slowly, over time, our innocence and our decency as a nation has eroded. Some will point to the loss of a centered, religious life as the cause, some will point to our more recent military strong-arming as the cause, some will point, vociferously, to the to the hippie generation and subsequent women's movement of the 1960's and 70's as the cause and some will point to technology gone wild as the cause, but I'm not so sure it's any of those things. Or at least none of those things alone. We are a nation of political infants, when compared to the British Government, for example, which has existed with a set of rules, laws and codes almost unchanged since the time of Magna Carta, some 800 years ago. For us, here in America, it's only 390 years since Plymouth Rock and only 235 years since Lexington and Concord and the ‘shot heard round the world'. A nation as young as ours always has problems caused by the factors already mentioned (and a whole host of others) while that society is learning and maturing.
But the point of this little essay is about decency; that intangible quality that has always been at the heart of the American persona. What is decency? Webster's definition is broad ranging, from the archaic "fitness" to the more recent idea of conforming to the standards of taste and propriety. But this idea of American "decency" has far deeper, more intangible and esoteric meanings than these bland descriptions.
In the Human Comedy by William Saroyen, he presents an almost perfect picture of this sense of American decency. Other American art and literature by people like Harper Lee, Louisa M. Alcott, Mark Twain and of course Norman Rockwell, tried to put forth this ideal of American values - the winning out of American values in the face of other less wholesome factors. The unwholesome factors didn't win. This was a world where friends defended friends, nations defended nations and were proud to stand up for Clark Kent's ideals of Truth, Justice and the American Way. The American Way was "decency".
Religious groups and fanatical fringe groups have taken a-hold of the word "decency" also. But their banner-waiving meaning, I believe, has twisted the core of what it meant to be "decent" in America. American decency isn't about shoving your religious ideology down the throats of your neighbors. It isn't about burning another's religious tome or banning pornography, or shooting abortion clinic doctors or gay-bashing or tea-totaling or desicrating a funeral with political sign waiving nut-jobs or about radio and media pundits denouncing the President of the United States in barroom terms.
The image of American decency that I hold dear is about tolerance. It's about "give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free". It's about that thing, that intangible American "thing" that Tom Brokaw stated best in the title of his masterwork "The Greatest Generation". Why were these men and women raised in the 1920's, 30's and 40's part of the "Greatest Generation"? Because they upheld decency. They lived and breathed this concept of American decency. It was in the fiber of their beings. I have had the joy of knowing many of these people personally through my parents and their friends and contemporaries. Their whole approach to life was different than the Baby Boomers, Xers and Yers. The older generation's understanding of the world at large and how the world works was profound, and yet exquisitely simple. It was a way of life based on decency, and decency alone. It was a way of life based on having faith in the common decency of man; of all mankind. Perhaps that is a naïve ideology, but it certainly worked for this country when it was needed; it brought this nation out of the Great Depression and through 2 World Wars.
America is based on decency and diversity. She has always been a nation of the "wretched refuse" from some teeming foreign shore, coming here to have a chance to live. To live free from oppression, free from religious fanaticism tainting and poisoning their governments or, on the flip side of that idea, free from religious suppression! Free, free, FREE. "Let Freedom Ring". Does that mean coming here and having to learn to live with someone else's idea of freedom? "Come here to America and let me tell you what your freedom is"? No. I don't believe that was the focus of our founding fathers. They could never have envisioned the world as we know it now, but they were progressives and radicals in their time. They were free thinkers, revolutionaries, let us not forget, and brave idealists. They forged a new nation from what was a savage, untamed and hostile environment. For this nation to have come into being, for their vision to take form, for these men and women to have a prayer at succeeding in this mammoth undertaking then "freedom", in the grand American ideal, had to mean that many ideologies, religions, lifestyles, beliefs, and nationalities had to come here and live together. Working, living side by side, contributing to the society at large by being allowed to be themselves. This idea of the American "melting pot" meant that in order to add to the vibrant texture of our society these differences of beliefs and lifestyles had to be honored and exalted. In order for America to survive, these differences must be held up, especially now 235 years later, as sacred and untouchable. These differences, this diversity, is the core and the heartbeat of America as we know her. Destroy this diversity, stamp it out, or break it down and you hail the end of the nation and the beginning of a place that I don't want to live in.
So, I guess American "decency" to me has always been, at it's heart, kindness. Yes, kindness. The rising tide of fanatical groups in this country, both political and religious, are quick to denounce in the name of God or money those they fear or disagree with (for many God and money are one and the same thing). These groups are quick to disown, to denigrate, to criticize, to use sarcasm and viciousness to undermine and weaken their opponents, to lie and manipulate, and in some very extreme cases, even to kill those who do not agree with their idea of "decency". What happened to kindness in America? What is the core spirit and driving force in this growing political and religious movement that seems, on it's face, to advocate hate and fear? The fanatics say it is all in the name of the love of God, or the love of the common man and Main Street, but love has little to do with the underlying message, if you truly listen to the words that are spoken. There is no kindness, no love and certainly just common decency seems to have little to do with their agenda(s).
I know that politics and economics muddies the waters for most people. The specter of the unknown looms up and takes hold, driving good and thoroughly decent people to say and do things they would otherwise never imagine doing. Technology and electronic communication has also helped to erode the walls of decency. Online videos, viral spin by uneducated morons who have never had a platform before can spew their idiocy. It is now commonplace. People like Loughner can criticize grammar and talk about "the brainwash" of the American people. His crazy ranting can actually be witnessed - worldwide. This kind of technology would have been Hitler's dream! On a lesser but just as disturbing scale, cyber bullying is another example of this societal erosion and this decay. Since when were Americans a nation raising mean spirited, cowardly children? To cyber bully someone takes no courage, no intelligence and no thought. Children can be mean, certainly. They need to be taught by their parents to be merciful and thoughtful. When a child showed a bullying streak, their parents and the American ideal of decency was always there to temper their behavior - to teach "treat someone the way you want to be treated". The old fashioned schoolyard bully at least had the courage to do it in person; in your face. The cyber bully can sit cloaked in anonymity, spewing hate and vitriol in perfect seclusion, alone, to wreak their havoc. And the adults these days are no better. Online chats, social pages, blog comments and message boards, while offering a means of "staying in touch" and of gaining information, are many times also just a means for angry, hate filled rants, often directed at other adults. But it's anonymous, and non-personal. The things written on these pages would never be said to the victim in person and that is because of one thing…decency. You simply don't say those things to a person's face. It isn't the "decent" thing to do. Loughner chose to use the cloak of technology first, and then he took it to the ultimate next stage, and made it tragically personal and "in person". Thankfully, most of these cyber bullying wackos don't.
Has America had her darker moments? You bet. Do I think that there have been times when America has lost her way? Of course. But decency, in the end, has always won out in these times of dark oppression - the times when greed for money or land or human bondage blinded our government to our original path of decency. Heck, we're living in one of those times now, and we must reacquaint ourselves with the core of American Decency to survive as a nation.
In the aftermath of the Arizona assassination attempt, I'm thinking about all the victims who lost their lives that day, but especially about that little 9 year old girl, who loved her country and just wanted to be politically and socially active. This child gave the ultimate gift of love and kindness to a total stranger, as her organs were donated to save a stranger's life. This bright and inspiring little girl understood the American founding fathers' original concept of decency, better than most adults, and certainly better than the pundits and politicos, reminding me of the bible verse "…and a little child shall lead them". She is a true American hero and her example and sacrifice is one we should always remember. Her decency and kindness should be an inspiration to us all.
About the Author
C.R. Manning is a Human Resources / Accounting professional, writer, artist and musician, living in the Los Angeles Metro area.
