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Good news! Spread the word! The Right isn't winning after all
Why are people on the Christian and political right so angry when they seem to be winning?
That was what I discussed on the phone the other week with Philip Slater, the distinguished sociologist best known for his 1970 classic, The Pursuit of Loneliness. Dr. Slater has clearly taken oddball calls before; he was willing to think aloud with me.
I suggested the Christian right suffered from some sort of twisted sexual rage--their religion limited their sexual expression and that made them jealous of those who felt unfettered by religious constraints.
Slater had another response: The Christian right and the political conservatives are not winning. And they know it. That's what infuriates them.
Slater briefly took me through a line of argument that he explains fully in a dazzlingly upbeat essay, "America is Polarized." In brief, he sees America--and the planet--undergoing "the most revolutionary cultural shift in the history of our species." In response. we tend to join one of two camps: "Control Culture," which clings to rigid, traditional beliefs, and "Connecting Culture," which aims to knock down walls and boundaries.
To read this essay is to be greatly cheered. The spread of democracy, the women's movement, the global economy, the ecology movement, the Internet--everything reasonable people care about is a manifestation of the Connecting Culture. And that culture is growing fast, fueled by technology, global communication, planetary awareness, and what Slater calls "the decreasing utility of war."
Ever since we were blessed with the Bush presidency, I've been searching for a way to look at what's happening in this country that doesn't make me feel sick at heart. Slater may not have the ultimate answer--but he gets you to 30,000 feet fast. From there, you can look around for yourself. At the very least, you can feel the beginning of compassion for those who feel the need to be in "Control"--people so freaked out by change that they fixate on gays and women's rights.
It's hard to feel that the Connecting Culture is winning; when I look out my window, I see only Americans running faster on the hamster wheel. Make change? Who has time to do more than read a few blogs? Slater acknowledges this disconnect. And he reminds us that history moves slowly--while the Control Culture cannot win, it may not "lose" in our lifetime. And that this struggle is not an American one. It's global.
The Slater essay raised my spirits. Please read it.
That was what I discussed on the phone the other week with Philip Slater, the distinguished sociologist best known for his 1970 classic, The Pursuit of Loneliness. Dr. Slater has clearly taken oddball calls before; he was willing to think aloud with me.
I suggested the Christian right suffered from some sort of twisted sexual rage--their religion limited their sexual expression and that made them jealous of those who felt unfettered by religious constraints.
Slater had another response: The Christian right and the political conservatives are not winning. And they know it. That's what infuriates them.
Slater briefly took me through a line of argument that he explains fully in a dazzlingly upbeat essay, "America is Polarized." In brief, he sees America--and the planet--undergoing "the most revolutionary cultural shift in the history of our species." In response. we tend to join one of two camps: "Control Culture," which clings to rigid, traditional beliefs, and "Connecting Culture," which aims to knock down walls and boundaries.
To read this essay is to be greatly cheered. The spread of democracy, the women's movement, the global economy, the ecology movement, the Internet--everything reasonable people care about is a manifestation of the Connecting Culture. And that culture is growing fast, fueled by technology, global communication, planetary awareness, and what Slater calls "the decreasing utility of war."
Ever since we were blessed with the Bush presidency, I've been searching for a way to look at what's happening in this country that doesn't make me feel sick at heart. Slater may not have the ultimate answer--but he gets you to 30,000 feet fast. From there, you can look around for yourself. At the very least, you can feel the beginning of compassion for those who feel the need to be in "Control"--people so freaked out by change that they fixate on gays and women's rights.
It's hard to feel that the Connecting Culture is winning; when I look out my window, I see only Americans running faster on the hamster wheel. Make change? Who has time to do more than read a few blogs? Slater acknowledges this disconnect. And he reminds us that history moves slowly--while the Control Culture cannot win, it may not "lose" in our lifetime. And that this struggle is not an American one. It's global.
The Slater essay raised my spirits. Please read it.
