The problem with
argument in this Post-American Century America is that no one likes a
good argument anymore. We like to fight with words – admittedly,
fewer and smaller words than we used to – but it is still
considered the intellectual's preference to rocks, sticks, knives, or
guns. We stake out our territory and strike out, like our tribal
ancestors undoubtedly did, with the sole purpose of mental
evisceration. I think of it like the Catholic Church's Crusades of
centuries ago – convert or die. This is the approach that most of
us take. But these two things are not the same.
Running parallel
with that massive chunk of cultural sewage is another crucial piece
of infrastructure that keeps the whole mess moving downhill – the
dire and politically correct desire to be “polite.” These two
things aren't nearly as contrary as people tend to think. Fighting
with words accomplishes nothing and no one ever really wins...
although everyone tends to walk away feeling like they have.
There are times in
the often violent exchange of ideas when being polite is a nice
break. A palette cleanser, if you will. Graciousness will take you
pretty far in the world... if that happens to be your goal.
But even in a
well-reasoned argument, there is often reason NOT to be polite.
Conceit, snobbery, bigotry, sexism, and xenophobia can all be thinly
disguised with a polite tone and a long knife smile. We talk a lot
about compromise in this country... mostly about the lack of it...
but the truth is no one really wants to compromise. They want to win
while still being able to take umbrage at the fact that the other
party didn't simply agree and capitulate.
This is the
problem. We've lost the ability to argue in any way that useful, or
even entertaining. We like to sit around with people who think like
us, who talk like us. We join groups on Facebook so we can dish in
publicly private setting. Now we have “circles” on Google + so we
can control what we say and show to whom... even though it's possible
to do that on Facebook if you spend five minutes looking over your
account settings. And really, there's nothing wrong with getting
together with other people – either in real time or online – to
share similar views. (So that's NOT what I'm saying here, you ninnies
who want to throw a Constitutional argument at me. I know all about
the First Amendment. It's my bread and butter.) And because we've
been taught to actually believe that the hallmark of civilization is
our ability to be polite and that America is near the pinnacle of
perfect civilizations, we think that the sometimes heated arguments
over ideas are unamerican.
First of all, if
history, current and past, has, is and should teach us anything, it's
that there's very little about civilization that's very civilized. A
smile and a polite tone does not make for an intelligent and
enlightened individual. In my experience, the biggest, ugliest,
stupidest bullies are the ones that smile. We have a history of
exclusion and of fighting over who we ought to include:
Non-Christians, Blacks, Women, the Irish, The Chinese, The Germans,
The Japanese, The Gays, The Arabs, The Mexicans. I'm leaving some out, I know,
but the list really is long. We've blacklisted artists, actors,
directors, writers, comedians. (And I say WE because anything that's
done in our name with our consent is something we bear the
responsibility for.) We are nearly as cruel to other humans as we
are to the other critters that scramble over the Earth... and the
argument could be made that we're even more cruel to our own because
we're more apt to take pity on a starving dog or a pitiful looking
cat than we are to give a panhandler a buck. (And before you say
“Yeah, the panhandler should get a job,” keep in mind that cats
are natural scavengers and most dogs are intelligent pack animals.
Making assumptions about why someone's homeless, or not working is
simply the way we justify our lack of humanity. It's rooted in the
idea stated thusly to me during a conversation once at a bar: “If I have
to work everyday and hate my job, so does everyone else.” Yep. The
If-It's-Good-Enough-For-Me fallacy. Mostly I think people resent the
homeless and the unemployed because they know they're a paycheck away
from being the same way. Similarity, in addition to making Facebook
have a point, also breeds contempt.)
The other thing
that history should teach us that for all of our accomplishments,
Sweden is more stable democracy.
The overall
result? We fight with words instead of argue. We've let the dumb
bastards who are in charge – and who are always in charge
regardless of what political party has the majority – convince us
that arguing is rude and unamerican. Our alternative is that we
fight with words... which is petty, pointless, and juvenile. The only
real bonus is that it can be mildly entertaining for the first two minutes, or right before the commercial break.
I suspect that
down deep, beyond the social programming and the institutionalized
cultural miasma that is modern education, the real reason people
don't like to argue anymore is because to really and truly argue
requires not only the ability to think critically, but a moral and
ethical integrity. It's important not to confuse argument with
debate. We should never be a society of lawyers. Debate, sometimes
referred to as Forensics, – like they sometimes still teach in
public schools instead of real history or science – encourages
people to learn all about something but be prepared to argue any
position. There's no moral or ethical inquiry involved. The Greeks
called this Sophistry and it was the Sophists who had Socrates
killed. People like this mistake debate for the Art of Argument. The
difference is Argument, if it is to be an art, must have some ethical
and moral integrity. Art of any kind... painting, sculpture, writing,
motorcycle maintenance … must have those same components. It's part
– though not all – of what makes Art.
As a result of
this curricular and cultural confusion, we've mistaken cleverness for
wit, eloquence for intellectual and spiritual depth. We would rather
let everyone feel like a winner than consider the possibility that
some of our ideas are wrong. The truly critically minded folks out
there often reconsider their positions on things. I know I do. And I
do change my mind... though not because I'm ever really compelled by
word fights that contradict my own experience. I change my mind
because it's important to be open-minded.
But that's not the
same thing as polite, either... though many do mistake them. Often.