Stuart’s Thoughts  8/27/2018

TEMPERAMENT OF THE NATION

Temperament is described as the character, disposition anTd tendencies as revealed by one’s characteristic behavior.  The term is usually used in the context of describing the behavior mode of an individual. In what follows, temperament is expanded to the collective level of an entire nation, i.e. the U.S.  In my personal view, a significant change has taken place in our “national temperament” in recent years.  My intention is to explore this change from my personal perspective and suggest possible effects that it may have on our society going forward.
Before delving into the subject of temperament and particularly what I call “national temperament”,  a few words on factors that may influence how an individual assess a subjective quality such as temperament.  Since temperament is a subjective attribute, it is based on a complement of impressions of how one views behaviors and forms impressions of others.  There are no hard measurements or statistics that directly relate to a truly subjective notion such as “national temperament”.  Additionally, the nature of the individual forming the subjective impression must also be taken into account.  Factors such as age, sex, economic level, social standing, religion and core personal beliefs are highly likely to play a major role in personal interpretations.

My motivation to compose this short essay reached a critical action point as I observed a series of rather extreme examples of highly negative response associated with and arising from the 2016 national elections.  As I followed the evolving situation, the thought came to me that never before, in my lifetime with the possible exception of the WW2 years, could i recall a period when so much of our nation seemed to be consumed by a level of negativity that actually could be called “hate”.  Although I understood the situations leading to this “era of hate” I didn’t like it and found it disappointing to see it build to such a crescendo in my country.
I mentioned the WW2 years but that national negativity or possibly “hate” was not directed inward but outward toward the axis enemy.  The inhumane brutality of acts such as Hitler’s attempt to exterminate the Jews, his horrible concentration camp treatment of war prisoners, the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor and their subsequent brutal treatment of prisoners of war. The level of negativity/hate that I refer to here is perhaps milder in one sense yet perhaps even more disturbing because it is occurring individually among ourselves rather than being directed at some grotesque foreign evil.

To make my point, I’ll contrast two periods in American history, the 1950s of my youth and the current 2000s of my old age.  I forewarn the reader that the age difference likely plays a significant role in how these subjective impressions are formed but, nevertheless, this is how I view it.  I characterize the 1950s as a wonderful time to be growing up in America,  Many of our fathers, husbands, brothers, cousins etc. had returned from overseas having survived that horrible war. Mothers, wives and daughters were returning home from 4 years in the war machine factories, normal food was again becoming available.  I remember racing home from school after stopping in line at a grocery store where real butter had just become available again.  I felt as though I was handing my mother a great treasure when I presented her with that pound of butter.  The nation’s peace time economy was coming to life.  New washing machines, bicycles, cars and trucks had resumed coming from factories recently converted from making guns and bullets to consumer goods.  In my view, the nation was elated, yes, extremely happy.  The relief coming from the end of the war lead to period of intense national pride and national harmony.  Everyone loved the U.S.A. We were truly enjoying a very positive “national temperament”.

Now, being a young teenager and not very interested in national politics, I can’t say everything was sweetness and roses but I had the impression that collectively the nation was optimistic and very content. I contrast that era to what i feel has been a rapidly declining period, i.e., the last 40 years but, in particular the last half of that period.  Although I am unable to point to a precise beginning of the decline, it’s often difficult to pinpoint such a thing, interestingly it seems to correlate with the emergence of the 24 hour news cycle, proliferation of talk radio and the explosive use of the internet for things such as blogs and social media.  Suddenly, everyone wanted to weigh in on politics, the politicians and sensitive social issues.  While that revolution can be both beneficial and harmful, it at least had the effect of sensitizing a sizable component of the population to the perceived evils of prominent personalities. Bill Clinton was generally well liked but everyone heard the salacious details of his extensive womanizing.  George Bush was called a war criminal by some for leading us into the Iraq war, in spite of initial bipartisan support for ending the evil administration of Saddam Hussein. Barack Obama in spite of being an outstanding orator and general nice guy, was called a weak empty suit whose foreign policy led to perceived weakness of the U.S. and whose economic policies led to economic stagnation.
Now we come to the Trump era, characterized by an almost unimaginable sequence of events and an all-time record of U.S. negativity expressed as never before. I’m not going to try to either vilify or support this meteoric rise in negativity which clearly for the first time crossed the line into outright “hatred” for a sitting U.S. President, although, I would have to say that I believe the same would have occurred if Hilary Clinton had been elected President.  Her apparent  self-interests rather than interest in the welfare of the nation or her own State Department colleagues under siege in the Middle East did lead to much criticism and obvious negativity toward her.  On the other hand, the hatred directed at Donald Trump seemed to be a product of his own doing in combination with his total rejection by the entrenched political establishment.  Politicians in both parties as well as the Washington press corps objected to such an interloper gaining access to the benefits supposedly reserved for the establishment insiders.  Interestingly it was precisely that upset of the Washington establishment apple cart that gained tremendous favor among the peasants in fly-over country.  Trump’s often objectionable behavior as well as many derogatory comments and tweets aimed at his opponents or perceived political enemies did little to damage his appeal.  While many people felt that his actions as president have been commendable (e.g. our revitalized economy and regain of international respect for our nation), many of those same people  while generally supporting him, will admit that they don’t like his demeanor and the verbal attacks he launches with apparent impunity.

I could go on to other rough spots in our social scene such as our difficulties in maintaining the rule of law (an essential pillar in the foundation of our nation, along with the concept of non-violent, orderly, transfer of power and our illegal drug crisis.  Some are particularly concerned due to the lack of a comprehensive plan for delivering wide spread medical care while continuing to encourage talented young people to spend 10 years or more of their lives in medical training only to graduate with enormous debt and an outlook of a long haul, with government in control of their lives and earnings.  

Yes, there are many valid reasons for the current tsunami of negativity but I am hopeful that we will find a realistic way out and a renewed opportunity for us to return to the, much more pleasant atmosphere of a highly positive national temperament.  What wii it take?  It may take an unprecedented effort for all of us to examine the strengths and weaknesses of our human nature and to reject as much as we can those human faults such as greed, selfishness, lack of humility and honesty.  We need to realize that a marvelous transition is within reach if we would only all commit to the golden rule, Donald Trump in particular.  I’m not kidding when I suggest that such a leader with such a formerly negative persona suddenly becoming consumed by the golden rule and putting a renewed image on display for all to see might actually be able to produce a miracle.