U.S. culture

Sometimes it seems to me that the culture of the U.S. is driven by Ignorance, Greed, Fear and Hate.

When I was a kid, I would watch Superman on TV and it was always introduced with the narrator speaking of Superman's fight for "truth, justice and the American way."

When I was a kid, I thought that meant that truth and justice were the American way, or at least part of the American way, and the rest of what the American way was was basically being good to people and fighting evil.

Now, the cynical part of me wonders whether the American way has anything to do with goodness or truth or justice. What I see in the common discourse is at best a rearguard action for truth, justice and goodness.

The part of this that saddens me the most, perhaps, is that the good people of America are being driven unknowing into this culture of hate and greed. And, in their ignorance, they don't even see it.

Recently a friend of a friend--a Republican--was telling me why the Democratic plan for health care is no good. He is, I believe, a well-intentioned, kind-hearted person but the reasons he cited were just a shallow repetition of what the media presents as the Republican position.

And that position, basically, is one intended to generate fear: "death panels", "rationing of health care", "growth of large government bureaucracies", "extravagant costs". And behind that fear, there are the excuses: "The US is too big; the US is too diverse; we need to preserve the free market; etc." Fear and excuses why we're not even going to try to do care for people in need. And this from people who claim to be Christian--a religion that speaks at great length of charity to the poor being one primary tenet.

The fear is fueled by ignorance. When's the last time the news gave any real coverage to any of the many different systems by which other industrialized societies provide health care for all their people at lower per capita costs, and with a better recent history of medical innovation? Do the majority of the people who are following the Republican agenda have any real idea about how medical care is delivered in other countries? Do they have any idea of where the money is going in this country?

On a deeper level, do they have any real idea of what they're talking about when they invoke the "free market"? Given my extensive studies of economic theory and market theory (not at the Ph.D. level, perhaps, but well beyond an undergraduate degree in economics), not to mention my more general philosophical interests that have a distinct bearing on any theory (epistemology, philosophy of mind, cognitive science), I feel pretty safe in saying that if the people of the US understood what they were supporting, they would not support it.

The free-market agenda is one of Greed. Greed is what fuels the "free market" according to theory--each man acting in his own self-interest, said Adam Smith; "foul is useful and fair is not; avarice and usury and precaution must be our gods" said John Maynard Keynes.

And hate. This is the one that frightens me the most. The bombast that fills the discourse of the U.S.--especially the right-wing commentators--is a discourse of broad hate and demonization. "I hope he fails," said Limbaugh of Obama, despite the fact that Obama's failure would cause millions suffering. The debate about health care is filled with cautions about how illegal immigrants will overload the system--fear and hate. Where is the debate about how one should love thy enemy (Matthew 5:44) or do unto others as you would have them do unto you (Matthew 7:12)? What about the debate about how we want to be a merciful nation because, according to Christian doctrine, "blessed are the merciful" (Matthew 5:7)? How about "If thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink" (Romans 12:20)?

Wouldn't it be great if our discourse in the U.S. was actually interested in how we could help each other? A discourse that suggests that the people who aren't like us (and who may not agree with us) are actually people we should try to meet with understanding, mercy and forgiveness (as Jesus suggested)? Wouldn't it be great if the gods that guided us were truth, justice and the golden rule (do unto others as you would have them do unto you)?

And wouldn't it be great if people saw through the greed, fear and hate, so that they understood how their decisions are adversely affecting all of us?