The day men who faced each other through years of mud, blood, bullets delivered and received, forced marches, hunger and more met at Appomattox courthouse with mutual respect and planted the seeds of reconciliation. Even though Grant thought the Confederate cause was among the most despicable ever, he respect those who fought for it and showed them mercy. Grant nurtured the seeds of reconciliation.
Fast forward to today. As we enjoy comforts unknown to those at Appomattox, we hate each other and throw constant epithets and insults virtually and sometime in the streets to anyone and everyone who disagree.
What happened to reconciliation? What happened to America?
Politicians/media found that it was beneficial to get people to hate the other side of the aisle.
If someone thinks the other side is the enemy, then policy positions/elect-ability become less important. You're not beholden to a voter who has been groomed to not vote against you regardless of what you do because they are made to think the other side is a danger to the country.
Historically speaking free societies are rare and short-lived. The American Experience is richer and more balanced because of our differences. The pendulum swings back and forth, politically, socially, culturally. Maybe a moment like Appomattox is the low point of the pendulum's arc, a fleeting moment of perfect equilibrium. Our Founders managed to create a pendulum that to this day hasn't broken. When it breaks you get Red China, Soviet Russia, and other dictatorships or totalitarian regimes.
While Grant and Chamberlain may have shown compassion, it was far from universal. Heck, Granny Clampett hated Yankees until the mid 1960's :).
But there was a lot of animosity. You don't think Northerners found anyone with a Southern accent as slow?
But as to today, I think 2 things really push it. 1) outrage sales. Look at the interwebs, outrage gets hits and likes. It isn't just politics, it is anything. The most clear example is sports. Loud and outraged works
The second is we are evolving from dogs to cats. Kids largely do not share rooms now, and won't in college like we did. When I was 18, huge swaths of America watched MASH. Nothing comes close to it in percentage of population today. There were rock stations, classic rock, country, pop, and easy listening. Today Sirius probably has a station for Disturbia performing Mel Torme in Mandarin.
If Project Hail Mary is still here, I plan on going this weekend. A lot of my friends, movie fans and sci fi fans, say, "I'm going to wait on streaming.".
Same for sporting events. There are a lot of people who prefer watching at home over going.
I am somewhat an introvert, so I get it a little. But we are tribal animals choosing to escape from the tribe (or the carry the earlier metaphor, the pack).
If we still had roommates in college from somewhere else with different ideals, and still associated around common points of interest, I think we would do better. And if we stopped believing every outrage story on social media too
Grant woke up expecting another day of a grimy war and put on a well-worn uniform that he had worn for several days. Lee on the other hand was dressed in his finest uniform, knowing he was about to step into history. Yes, it is pretty amazing the grace that Grant showed. Lee told him that 25,000 rebel soldiers were in urgent need of food and medicine and Grant assured them they would all be taken care of (though many of the needed supplies had been taken from captured Confederate trains nearby, the day before!). Then he allowed Confederate officers to keep their personal sidearms (pistols and swords), as well as their private horses so they go get back to their lives, what was left of it, and have free rail passage.
"You can't make someone listen to reason if they aren't willing to think"-- Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451
Orgies aren’t the same either.
I remember coming home one evening to my coed dorm, which happened to have a large living room and there was a circle of about 40 students holding hands butt naked.
While Grant and Chamberlain may have shown compassion, it was far from universal. Heck, Granny Clampett hated Yankees until the mid 1960's :).
But there was a lot of animosity. You don't think Northerners found anyone with a Southern accent as slow?
But as to today, I think 2 things really push it. 1) outrage sales. Look at the interwebs, outrage gets hits and likes. It isn't just politics, it is anything. The most clear example is sports. Loud and outraged works
The second is we are evolving from dogs to cats. Kids largely do not share rooms now, and won't in college like we did. When I was 18, huge swaths of America watched MASH. Nothing comes close to it in percentage of population today. There were rock stations, classic rock, country, pop, and easy listening. Today Sirius probably has a station for Disturbia performing Mel Torme in Mandarin.
If Project Hail Mary is still here, I plan on going this weekend. A lot of my friends, movie fans and sci fi fans, say, "I'm going to wait on streaming.".
Same for sporting events. There are a lot of people who prefer watching at home over going.
I am somewhat an introvert, so I get it a little. But we are tribal animals choosing to escape from the tribe (or the carry the earlier metaphor, the pack).
If we still had roommates in college from somewhere else with different ideals, and still associated around common points of interest, I think we would do better. And if we stopped believing every outrage story on social media too
Marv,
To be clear, are you suggesting that choice and preferences are a net negative for society? I would think it has some positive benefits around happiness, etc. but somewhat agree that it enables the masses to break up and only focus on what they want to focus on.
I prefer watching sporting events from home b/c the prices and traffic ruin the fun of the game itself.
@jdb I cannot recall the book but an economist wrote about choice and happiness. One example was him going into a store to buy jeans. Before he went in, they had 2-3 options, he left.
But this time he went in and there were options upon options. He tried on many jeans, and bought one. He was unhappy though. Why? With all those options his choice still felt "satisfactory". It should have felt near perfect.
I have that with Sirius. I have 10 music channels I listen to. It is frustrating when I clear all 10 and the best choice is a "meh". We saw that back with cable, "I have 60 channels and there is nothing on I want to see."
And one has to add cost. To watch IU basketball one needs several pay channels. The old days of turning it to 4 was far superior. Sorry those of you who didn't care enough to stay in central Indiana.
Options can be an additive but it isn't guaranteed.
And it has an impact on cohesion. I won't say options are a negative but they aren't always great.
Food is a great example, back for most of human history we were limited in what we can eat by the season and grown locally. Our taste buds would tire of cabbage so there wasn't a desire to overeat. Our taste buds always eat new.
The PC and cell phone now deliver psychological damage and propaganda to the undereducated and mentally weak at a rate and in a manner that makes individual liberty unsustainable.
Cheers.