National Unity, M&Ms and License Plates
May 5th, 2011 by John Creighton in Dispatches
Tags: Civility, Community, Public Values
LONGMONT, Colo., May 5, 2011 — President Obama’s announcement that Navy Seals found and killed Osama bin Laden sparked spontaneous expressions of patriotism from Ground Zero to Facebook. We can debate whether dancing in the streets or solemn gratitude for long-awaited justice is more appropriate. What is indisputable is American’s deeply felt pride in their country.
The open question is whether we can turn this moment of pride into a sustained period of national unity – the currency that facilitates action on difficult challenges. It won’t be easy.
Image courtesy of www.rasmussen.com
We are living in a period of hyper-individualism. Americans place a greater premium on personal interests and self-expression than on the country’s shared interests. The “me-first” attitude is not a function of our political system, which is a reflection of our nation’s culture.
Hyper-individualism is driven by people’s expectations for how the world should work.
The evolution of M&Ms candies is a metaphor for how people’s expectations have changed. In the mid-1990s, before the dot com boom, M&Ms created a democratic process of sorts that allowed people to vote for blue, pink or purple to replace tan in the mix of six colors – blue was the winner. People had to live with the decision of the voting majority.
No more. Who cares if friends and neighbors prefer blue? You may choose M&Ms from among two dozen colors. For a fee, add a business logo, personal greeting or a photo, if you’re so inclined. You don’t have to live with the will of the majority. Do what you want.
Our desire to differentiate ourselves from others is reflected in the nationwide adoption of specialty license plates, too. On the same radio broadcast where I listened to reports of bin Laden’s demise, I learned that Arizona has approved Tea Party license plates.
The Tea Party license plates are among dozens Arizonans may choose from. The state’s drivers may proclaim their allegiance to the Suns, Cardinals or Diamondbacks or favorite state university. They may promote breast cancer research, energy efficiency, and character education, or encourage people to spay and neuter their pets.
The Gadsen Flag
It’s not enough for some people to just be Arizonans. They feel compelled to make a personal statement, too.
Clearly M&Ms and license plates are trivial matters in a vacuum. But — they represent a larger trend in our society. Increasingly, people expect to do what they want, when they want, and how they want, without having to make compromises to accommodate others’ wishes.
Schools are one of the many institutions that feel the impact of these new attitudes.
A decade or two ago, young families willingly, if not always happily, conformed their lives to the rules and schedules of schools. Families chose where to live and when to vacation based on school boundaries and calendars.
Families reject these constraints today. In Colorado, the idea that a school district should decide where your child goes to school is as arcane as suggesting women shouldn’t work outside the home.
Many parents don’t hesitate to pull their kids from school for extended family trips without regard for the school calendar – or the extra imposition that absences place on teachers and classmates. These parents figure the educational experience of travel equals that in the classroom. Classroom work can be made up at another time.
There are clear upsides to people’s growing confidence that they can and should do what’s in their best interests, rather than defer to authorities. Families, for instance, don’t have to feel stuck with a school they don’t want their children to attend. I would never go back to the no-choice era of schools. And, in the future, schools must be more flexible.
However, there are also downsides to people’s sense of personal entitlement. One such consequence is that we are losing our sense of what it means to be part of democratic institutions. When we encounter obstacles, or when our preferences aren’t among the majority, more and more of us choose to walk away, rather than find ways to work it out.
Options, while often wonderful, also beget a lack of commitment to the group, community and the institution. As a result, we often avoid the work required to sow the seeds of unity.
Over the past few days, there has been an outpouring of gratitude for the men and women in the Armed Forces and their families who made great sacrifices in the decade-long efforts to fight terrorism. That is as it should be.
The best way to repay those who risked, and all-too-often gave their lives, is to renew our democratic skills and sensibilities. It is time for each of us to make a commitment to be actively engaged in civic life, not with a niche group of like-minded people, but with groups that transcend narrow boundaries.
National unity does not begin with the President or Congress. It begins at home.
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John Creighton writes on community life and public leadership at johncr8on.com. He can be found on Twitter @johncr8on and on Facebook. Read more of John’s work in Dispatches From The Heartland at the Communities at the Washington Times.