HOW AMERICA IS MAKING ITSELF MISERABLE

Is there a relationship between the U.S. being the most right wing of the developed nations and the fact that it is the angriest, most unhappy, and jails more of its own citizens than any other nation on Earth?  If you answered “yes” you may go to the head of the class.

Several years ago, I wrote a Science fiction novel, titled, “The Megalight Connection,” in which I tried to lay the groundwork for human potential based on internal and external harmony as well as dysfunction as a result of insecurity, resulting from disconnection, which results largely from a really, really bad idea (the world owes me … I’m better than you are) and/or fear/insecurity.  I originally conceived of connection and disconnection (C/D) as an individual, spiritual concept.  The idea was relatively simple: the more honest and authentic our inward relationship, the more connected we are with others.  The more we connect with each other, the fewer the conflicts in the world.  Ultimately, if we connect as we should, we would eliminate the whole idea of “them,” because there would only be “us.”

The political/racial backlash to Obama’s election caused me to focus more on the politics of C/D, or more specifically of disconnection.  Everything about the Tea Party, as well as those who exploit their dysfunction, a la Ted Cruz, reeks of disconnection.  Where connection lies at the core of empathy, disconnection clearly is its opposite.  As always, there is a false idea at the core of disconnection, and in this case, it’s the idea that no black man should be president. 

Then there is the economic system of disconnection.  Pure capitalism epitomizes disconnection.  Capitalism unfettered, means unsafe everything, from working conditions, to food, to water to air.  It means large companies can morph together to control markets on all commodities.  No minimum wage.  Pure capitalism is pure evil. 

Not surprisingly, the economics and politics of disconnection are inextricably interwoven and endorsed by the same constituency.  Sadly, these endorsements come more from the victims of these pernicious systems than from their beneficiaries.  What was it that the great surgeon, Ben Carson called the “worst thing since slavery” and actor Chuck Norris called “the greatest threat to our freedom”?  Was it a plague or another world war?  No. It was health insurance!  What is it in American culture that produces this mentality?

The PBS documentary, “Happy” provides some answers as well as further validation for all that I’ve been espousing regarding C/D.  According to the film, money, once basic needs have been met comfortably, has little to do with happiness.  This fact is particularly essential when one considers that one of the primary aphorisms of American culture is that time is money.  Remember, the core of disconnection is a false idea.  Time is NOT money.  Time is LIFE.  It is the allotment of life we have on this planet.  The movie went on to show that some of the happiest people on the planet live in small villages and tribal enclaves and have little more than each other.  They are happy because of strong family and community ties.  They are happy because they are connected.

Denmark was graded the happiest of first World nations.  Denmark also boasts free medical care and higher education for all its citizens.

Once again we are left with the question of what it is in the American culture that makes this nation so right Wing in comparison to the rest of the world?  America, more than any other nation, places the individual above the group.  I believe it goes back to the American mythology of the Old West.  The hero as solitary figure.  He rides off into the sunset, alone.  It is no coincidence that the most American of the American heroes, John Wayne, was also a racist in real life.  Nor is it a coincidence that, for many Americans, the most beloved president of the last half century was also a symbol of the lone American hero as well as a champion of apartheid and racism, Ronald Reagan.   

Every society must balance the rights of the individual against those of the group.  In America, there is no balance.  This elevation of the individual above the group further fosters a sense of competition over cooperation.  Capitalism is the most competitive system the world has ever seen.  As competition increases, cooperation decreases.   Cooperation breeds well being and security.  The happiest people in the “Happy” documentary also placed cooperation above competition.

I guess the old saying (paraphrasing) is true.  Americans who want everyone else to be miserable start by making themselves miserable.