Time to confront poisonous US culture

Newsom: "...take a little damn responsibility, all of us". Photo from KCRA 3 video

Two thoughts to start the month of June with: Each age has its over-arching outlook on what is important in life; secondly, to succeed in life so as to be fully human means personally reassessing our goals, digging deep into what guides us in the setting of our ambitions. 

Last week, in a cry from the heart after the shooting deaths of nine workers at a transport yard in California, Governor Gavin Newsom asked: "What the hell is going on in the United States of America? What the hell is wrong with us?"  

Newsom called out the mentality of Americans in apparently accepting the inevitability of gun violence - "It just feels like this happens over and over and over again — rinse and repeat, rinse and repeat." He went on:  "And here we are, in the United States of America, where we're experiencing something that just is not experienced anywhere else in the world."

He highlighted the "numbness" and the "fury and frustration" that builds up within the population as a whole over the deaths by shooting, whether mass shootings or the inner-city toll. "And what are we doing to come to grips with this?... It's time to ... wake up to this reality and take a little damn responsibility, all of us".

Two other signs that all is not well in American society, in fact, that the culture has turned toxic, are the high number of girls presenting as deeply unhappy and wishing to become male, and the rising count of young people with mental health problems.

On the first matter, are good summary of the state of affairs is given in the following two paragraphs from an American source:

The vast majority of youth now presenting with gender dysphoria are adolescents who suddenly express revulsion with their sex from birth, and 70% of them were born female. Many of them have co-morbidities such as anxiety, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, autism spectrum traits, and depression, Malone explains, which need to be considered.

This newer presentation — which has been termed late-, adolescent-, or rapid-onset gender dysphoria — has now been seen in every gender clinic in the Western world, and there has been a huge surge in the number of cases. One recent US survey found a 4000% increase (over 40-fold) since 2006, and there have been similar large increases in Finland, Norway, the Netherlands Canada, and Australia.

The Malone in "Malone explains" refers to William Malone, MD, an assistant professor of endocrinology practicing in Twin Falls, Idaho.

The "social contagion" of a materialistic, money- and me-focused culture is having a broader impact also. This year's The State of Mental Health in America report from the Mental Health America organisation has as its three top findings: 

Youth mental health is worsening. 9.7% of youth in the U.S. have severe major depression, compared to 9.2% in last year’s dataset. This rate was highest among youth who identify as more than one race, at 12.4%.

Even before COVID-19, the prevalence of mental illness among adults was increasing. In 2017-2018, 19% of adults experienced a mental illness, an increase of 1.5 million people over last year’s dataset.

Suicidal ideation among adults is increasing. The percentage of adults in the U.S. who are experiencing serious thoughts of suicide increased 0.15% from 2016-2017 to 2017-2018 – an additional 460,000 people from last year’s dataset.

What a toxic society these statistics reveal! However, evidence of such a diseased existence appears wherever a family-oriented society loses its willingness to accept the discipline that the exercise of loving mutual support demands. I'm writing from Vietnam, where I see warped Western values beginning to undermine the traditional solidarity of families and of community.

Here is one observer's description of the root cause of where a nation can go wrong in its culture, especially one like the United States that is rapidly revealing its underlying secular lifestyle, and that prides itself in its individualism:

There is so much division in society today, simply because the individual is facing a crisis of meaning and purpose.  Because of secularism, man does not believe in a creator or the existence of the Ultimate, whom we call God.  He has no idea of his own origin, purpose in life or the outcome at the end of this life.  The world teaches us that the universe, and that includes us all, comes from the random interactions of atoms. It is by accident that we were born into this world.  Life has no meaning, no intrinsic value, except to make the most of what this world offers, at the end of which we return to the universe as atoms. This lack of purpose means that we are called to live for ourselves.  There is no reference point, no objective truth or morals to follow.  It is all about me finding fulfillment in this life.  People are important to me insofar as they can enrich my life.  This is what individualism is all about.

That godless, therefore unanchored and atomised, style of living has certainly taken root in American society, in much of the West, and in richer countries elsewhere. The forms of technology that have arisen in the past 50 years have shaped Western culture, as have the loud proponents of today's stunting form of science that, along with corporate greed, debases ethical standards and fertilizes the desire for ease and entertainment as the true ends of life.

It's clear that each nation has a pattern of thinking that is part of its unique culture. However, the carriers of each culture have to take responsibility for what they accept within the inheritance they pass on to later generations. 

Therefore, parents, in the first instance, need to be determined in taking stock of their own lifestyle and to decide on ways to protect their young ones from the poisonous mindset that envelops society as a whole. They have to realise that their family must stand up to the powerful influences of academia, social media and mainstream media. In addition, social structures such as the school have succumbed to the general contagion and so, to preserve what good remains and to rebuild what has been debased, counter-cultural families must work together. To this end, useful resources can be shared, and new communities developed. Resources for such a project include texts as given here and here.

Governor Newsom is right to be worried about the American way of life and in calling for everyone to take responsibility for transforming American culture. That same plea applies to all of us in whatever culture is our own. This is the time to be counter-cultural wherever we are and family by family, in a way that develops the common good. The young especially need to see that we are not redeemed by science but by that wonderful dimension of reality revealed by God, namely a love that is powerful and everlasting. This is the source of meaning and peace of mind. May God give you success in the work of your hands in this transformational project! 

UPDATE: To get an insight into the nature of the contagion we are exposed to, go here.  

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