May 7, 1975

Rest Of Century A Dangerous Era

Where do we go from here?

Now that we have bugged out of Indochina, and the "domestic front" seems to be commanding most of our concern, it seems an appropriate time to re-order our priorities.

Our direction, pace and distance depends entirely upon our national mood - and it is undergoing significant change.

It is too early to tell whether the American spirit is changing entirely for the better.  Certainly there are some negative aspects to our collective outlook that must improve before we can move forward harmoniously.

Our long-range prospects are good in my opinion.

We have passed through a critical period of self-examination that raises serious questions about national purpose.  It is perhaps useful to examine our mood as we prepare to tackle new problems.

For this purpose I turn to Andrew Hacker, professor of government at Cornell University.  He took a hard look at our national outlook several years ago, and time is bearing out his observations.

"The malaise of the American spirit cannot be blamed on wrong headed policies, inept administrations, or even an inability to understand the dimensions of our current discontents," said Hacker.

"The reasons are more fundamental - I would say historical - arising from the kind of people we have become.  I have called our time 'the end of the American era' because as individuals we no longer possess the qualities upon which citizenship depends.

"To be specific: we cannot bring ourselves to make the personal sacrifices required to sustain domestic order or international authority.

"We have, in short, become a loose aggregation of private persons who give higher priority to our personal pleasures than to collective endeavors.

"Americans no longer display that spirit which transforms a people into a citizenry and turns territory into a nation.

"There eventually arrives a time when a preoccupation with self-centered concerns deflects a population from public obligations, when a willingness to be governed stands less in evidence.  We have reached that time."

Hacker is pessimistic about the prospects of mobilizing our resources for domestic reconstruction.  He feels that even if we reduce military outlays, the traditional American antipathy to taxes would create pressure for cutting public expenditures.

He believes Americans today are more interested in catching up with our purchases of snowmobiles, swimming pools, second homes and similar artifacts of indulgence.

"To this I would add that an awareness of problems need not lead to their solution," said Hacker.

"Indeed, too much comprehension can have the opposite effect.  More and more of us are now part-time sociologists.  We have no difficulty in dilating on all manner of crises ranging from poverty and civil liberties to pollution and violent crime.

"Yet, as one who might have contributed to this understanding - I have taught college students for fifteen years - I realize that sociological sophistication seldom prompts individuals to forego personal pleasures so as to make society a better place.

"I wonder what this new generation will be doing ten years from now.  Will the enthusiasts currently teaching in the underprivileged areas send their own children into those classrooms?

"I foresee the rest of this century as a dangerous time, during which we will continue in our accustomed ways.  We will claim to want new styles of leadership, overlooking our own inability to serve as followers in any but the most marginal of ways," said Hacker.

"We can no longer be a single nation, possessed of a common spirit.  Neither class struggle nor civil war entirely describes the contours of this discord.

"Suffice it to say that increasingly we will encounter one another as enemies.  As individuals we stand more vulnerable to the abrasions we effect on each other.  The options (for improvement) open to us are narrowly limited."

I cannot agree with Professor Hacker that the American spirit will not support large-scale social change.  But his general observation that personal ease will be a stumbling block bears out my own.  In any event, new social programs must be based on willingness and ability to pay for them.

The old older is changing.  Responsible, practical leadership - coupled with cooperative, patient citizenry - will take us to new plateaus of civilization.

Author: Lindsey Williams