I am thinking that we need messaging that is not so much “No Kings” but more like “No Neanderthals!” **
I had been hopeful that the coarseness of our culture would be a side-bar, rather than a major headline. You know a contributor to fun, rather than the definition of “fun.” Or, the definition of “popular.”
I even worked up enough steam about it in the late 90s and early 00s to post and publish a column called “Sterling Manners” - “Let’s put the ‘man’ back in manners.” It was my, now known, feeble attempt at writing a continuing column devoted to “civility.”
Although it was a serious attempt by me to write about what a “Golden-Rule Age” would look like, the readership was small. I blame it on Jerry Springer* and his exploitation of the vulnerabilities to conflict and coarseness (”fun”?) that are so widely embedded in Western culture.
I have archived a curated sample of that website at "Sterling Manners" if you want to view my early attempts at advocating for civility.
Incivility, denigration, conflict, inflicting pain and hurt, bullying – Springer to Trump. What a tragic trajectory of exploitation of the worst in humans. If it was just them, hey, we could dismiss it as a “random” curse. But, it isn’t just them. It is us. The “No Kings” movement needs a huge “No Neanderthals” base.
The T-Alliance can’t live without Neanderthals.
* Springer stats:
No. of episodes: 3,891
No. of seasons: 27
First episode date: September 30, 1991 (USA)
Executive producer: Rachelle Wilkos
Final episode date: July 26, 2018
Networks: NBC, The CW
** No Neanderthals Graphic
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Thanks!
I'll be Sure to check out that Sterling Manners link you described. It sounds intriguing. I have fairly clear memories of the 1990s as that was the decade in which I officially became an adult. I remember Jerry Springer and all the right wing radio talk shows at the time which were all the rage--in more ways than onf unfortunately. I like how you make the connection to the popular media of that time to the overall denigration of our culture which ultimately brings us to where we are today in terms of the state of political discourse and our submission to a dictatorship. Having grown up in the era of the right wing's most prominent ascent, I remember always being struck by the contradiction in what I was always brought up to hold as "family values" and the "family values" espoused by the right wing pundits at the time. Whereas I was brought up with both personal responsibility and community responsibility, much of the conservative rhetoric at the time lauded a vision of personal responsibility that was more tantamount to "hurray for me, screw everyone else". Again, I still remember being struck by the contradiction of it all and I think that was what helped shape me to become a progressive. I enjoyed reading your article!