Berl Falbaum
A little stream of consciousness and musings about our inbred “indecency…”
Over the years, I have written extensively how we have destroyed the environment, poisoned our politics as well as our culture with polluted/vulgar music, literature, movies, and theater.
But I dealt with them separately; I did not link them and, regrettably, that was a major omission.
Recently, in a discussion with friends on these topics, it suddenly became clear how they are intertwined. One participant pointed out how he had just finished reading are article that stated outright that to improve a nation’s character, you need to promote decency.
How can I have missed the interrelationship for so long? They go hand-in-hand. One seeps into the other. Let’s develop this concept a bit.
The word “decency” requires a commitment to virtue, truth, civility, honesty, morality, integrity, and we surrendered that commitment in these disciplines. What’s more, it took only a few decades.
Some examples:
In 1939, the country was shaken when Rhett told Scarlett he doesn’t give a “damn.” Now, we don’t even blink when late-night comics deliver the most profanity-laden monologues imaginable. Indeed, we give them standing ovations.
A critic of the comedian Jon Stewart pointed out that in one monologue, Stewart, joined by his audience, delivered 57 “F-bombs” in 28 minutes; that’s just about one every two minutes.
As I said, it did not take long for us to abandon decency. Within the last century, classic comics and satirists like Will Rogers, Sid Caesar, Red Skelton, Jack Benny, Bob Hope, and countless others had us laughing uproariously without using one obscene word.
On one of my book shelves, I have the works of some of the greatest writers in history — Twain, Kipling, Dickens, Ibsen, Tolstoy, Swift, Hawthorne, Chekhov, et al. — and I don’t think there is one dirty word in any of the books.
In some research on this subject, I came across the lyrics of Kid Rock’s songs. I have never read anything so vulgar, vile, repulsive and odious. And, of course, he crosses into politics as a MAGA Trump supporter. He said Trump has, at times, sought his advice.
We are deluged with pornography, having it available with a push of a button on our cellphones. That, to continue the relationship between the three, is equivalent to annually dumping millions of garbage into our oceans, lakes, streams, and ponds.
In 1958, Llewelyn Sherman Adams, chief of staff to President Dwight Eisenhower, had to resign for accepting a gift — a $700 fur coat for his wife — from a friend who had business dealings with the government. Now, we have a president who makes millions running several businesses from the White House.
We might equate that to increasing the manufacture of plastics from two million tons of plastics in 1950 to the expected 500 million tons by the end of 2026.
In 1988, Gary Hart, the frontrunner for the Democratic presidential nomination, dropped out of the race after he was caught having an extra-marital affair. Now, sitting in the White House, is a man found guilty of sexual assault, a man accused of sexual harassment by two dozen women, a man who bragged about grabbing women by the genitals, etc.
It wasn’t too long ago when we decried sexual scandals in Hollywood; now we accept them in our politics as we have tolerated the continued use of fossil fuels that heat up the planet.
As you probably have concluded, I can continue giving examples of this inter-relationship endlessly. But I think you get the picture.
I never thought I would ever quote former Georgia Congresswoman Majorie Taylor Greene, but after helping poison our politics for five years as a Trump sycophant, she resigned because she found our politics “toxic and violent.” Really?
So, is it possible to restore some dignity, civility, graciousness or morality into our society.
Unfortunately, it is not. The Earth is burning up and even passionate environmentalists have thrown in the towel by accepting a continued increase in temperatures knowing that they will cause more devastating damage to the planet.
As to cleaning up our sexually-saturated and profane apolitical environment, well good luck. How would you even start that process? There is no going back; it is not within the realm of the possible.
We took a major step in abandoning dignity and civility in politics with the election of Donald Trump. But the process was already well under way. But he can “take credit” for taking us lower into the gutter at an accelerated rate.
In days of yore, it was a big story if a president or lesser politician was caught using a profanity on a hot mic. Now, Trumpites vehemently applaud his obscenities at rallies and have inscribed on their hats and t-shirts the most vulgar slogans.
There was a time, again, not too long ago, when we looked for moral and virtuous as well as political leadership from a president as sell as from public officeholders at lower levels.
I have no idea how we will ever again hold any public official accountable for crimes or immoral behavior given the precedent of Trumpism.
We surrendered any chance of changing our culture when we did not even discuss “character” in the last 11 years of Trump. No one in the media -- and I use the absolute “no one” intentionally -- ever questioned Trump supporters in and out of office whether character was important.
Through those years, I waited for some reporter to pose the following two questions to Trumpites: (2) Do you believe it is important for a president or any public office holder to be of good character? and (2) Do you believe Trump is a moral, honest, virtuous man, a man of good character?
It never happened.
Sadly, it is impossible to reverse our spiral into continual exposure to unending coarseness, vulgarity, obscenity, and immorality. We are awash in crudeness and ugliness from which we cannot escape.
And, to paraphrase Rhett, no one seems to give a damn.
Over the years, I have written extensively how we have destroyed the environment, poisoned our politics as well as our culture with polluted/vulgar music, literature, movies, and theater.
But I dealt with them separately; I did not link them and, regrettably, that was a major omission.
Recently, in a discussion with friends on these topics, it suddenly became clear how they are intertwined. One participant pointed out how he had just finished reading are article that stated outright that to improve a nation’s character, you need to promote decency.
How can I have missed the interrelationship for so long? They go hand-in-hand. One seeps into the other. Let’s develop this concept a bit.
The word “decency” requires a commitment to virtue, truth, civility, honesty, morality, integrity, and we surrendered that commitment in these disciplines. What’s more, it took only a few decades.
Some examples:
In 1939, the country was shaken when Rhett told Scarlett he doesn’t give a “damn.” Now, we don’t even blink when late-night comics deliver the most profanity-laden monologues imaginable. Indeed, we give them standing ovations.
A critic of the comedian Jon Stewart pointed out that in one monologue, Stewart, joined by his audience, delivered 57 “F-bombs” in 28 minutes; that’s just about one every two minutes.
As I said, it did not take long for us to abandon decency. Within the last century, classic comics and satirists like Will Rogers, Sid Caesar, Red Skelton, Jack Benny, Bob Hope, and countless others had us laughing uproariously without using one obscene word.
On one of my book shelves, I have the works of some of the greatest writers in history — Twain, Kipling, Dickens, Ibsen, Tolstoy, Swift, Hawthorne, Chekhov, et al. — and I don’t think there is one dirty word in any of the books.
In some research on this subject, I came across the lyrics of Kid Rock’s songs. I have never read anything so vulgar, vile, repulsive and odious. And, of course, he crosses into politics as a MAGA Trump supporter. He said Trump has, at times, sought his advice.
We are deluged with pornography, having it available with a push of a button on our cellphones. That, to continue the relationship between the three, is equivalent to annually dumping millions of garbage into our oceans, lakes, streams, and ponds.
In 1958, Llewelyn Sherman Adams, chief of staff to President Dwight Eisenhower, had to resign for accepting a gift — a $700 fur coat for his wife — from a friend who had business dealings with the government. Now, we have a president who makes millions running several businesses from the White House.
We might equate that to increasing the manufacture of plastics from two million tons of plastics in 1950 to the expected 500 million tons by the end of 2026.
In 1988, Gary Hart, the frontrunner for the Democratic presidential nomination, dropped out of the race after he was caught having an extra-marital affair. Now, sitting in the White House, is a man found guilty of sexual assault, a man accused of sexual harassment by two dozen women, a man who bragged about grabbing women by the genitals, etc.
It wasn’t too long ago when we decried sexual scandals in Hollywood; now we accept them in our politics as we have tolerated the continued use of fossil fuels that heat up the planet.
As you probably have concluded, I can continue giving examples of this inter-relationship endlessly. But I think you get the picture.
I never thought I would ever quote former Georgia Congresswoman Majorie Taylor Greene, but after helping poison our politics for five years as a Trump sycophant, she resigned because she found our politics “toxic and violent.” Really?
So, is it possible to restore some dignity, civility, graciousness or morality into our society.
Unfortunately, it is not. The Earth is burning up and even passionate environmentalists have thrown in the towel by accepting a continued increase in temperatures knowing that they will cause more devastating damage to the planet.
As to cleaning up our sexually-saturated and profane apolitical environment, well good luck. How would you even start that process? There is no going back; it is not within the realm of the possible.
We took a major step in abandoning dignity and civility in politics with the election of Donald Trump. But the process was already well under way. But he can “take credit” for taking us lower into the gutter at an accelerated rate.
In days of yore, it was a big story if a president or lesser politician was caught using a profanity on a hot mic. Now, Trumpites vehemently applaud his obscenities at rallies and have inscribed on their hats and t-shirts the most vulgar slogans.
There was a time, again, not too long ago, when we looked for moral and virtuous as well as political leadership from a president as sell as from public officeholders at lower levels.
I have no idea how we will ever again hold any public official accountable for crimes or immoral behavior given the precedent of Trumpism.
We surrendered any chance of changing our culture when we did not even discuss “character” in the last 11 years of Trump. No one in the media -- and I use the absolute “no one” intentionally -- ever questioned Trump supporters in and out of office whether character was important.
Through those years, I waited for some reporter to pose the following two questions to Trumpites: (2) Do you believe it is important for a president or any public office holder to be of good character? and (2) Do you believe Trump is a moral, honest, virtuous man, a man of good character?
It never happened.
Sadly, it is impossible to reverse our spiral into continual exposure to unending coarseness, vulgarity, obscenity, and immorality. We are awash in crudeness and ugliness from which we cannot escape.
And, to paraphrase Rhett, no one seems to give a damn.
––––––––––––––––––––
Subscribe to the Legal News!
https://www.legalnews.com/Home/Subscription
Full access to public notices, articles, columns, archives, statistics, calendar and more
Day Pass Only $4.95!
One-County $80/year
Three-County & Full Pass also available
