Friends of Dave #288: speechless
When do we stop living in "unprecedented times?"
Wow.
Even though the news leaked weeks ago and no matter where you sit on the matter, you have to agree that word that Roe v. Wade was officially struck down by the Supreme Court on Friday, June 24 was stunning.
Yes, stunning.
Aside from the obvious direct repercussions, it marked a fairly unique occasion in our country's history: in one fell swoop, the Supreme Court essentially rescinded rights bestowed to a set of citizens that it once deemed to be constitutional -- something it has done in less than one-half of one percent of all it's rulings since 1789.
Think about that......we continue to live in "unprecedented times".......I don't know about you, Friends, but I am pretty tired of hearing it and writing it.
I'm not going to get into the politics of it all here. That is not how I use this space.
I will, however, wonder openly where this leaves us as a country. How did we get to this place? And how do we continue to call ourselves the "United States of America" when we clearly are not?
As I mentioned last week, the constant anger and frustration we see, particularly on social media, is a contributing factor. Everyone has a megaphone these days -- one that can be activated by a simple click of the button without any recourse. We never have a chance to heal when wounds keep getting reopened -- and our anger is stoked by those, particularly in power, who want to use it for their benefit.
But I will also point a finger at a huge compound problem that I have addressed here in the past: it's that of culture and values.
Like any organization, Americans have to take a good look in the mirror and wonder "Who are we?" Are we a community of kind, inviting, empathetic people who look favorably upon our neighbors and is willing to compromise so that everyone can prosper in their own way? Or are we single minded, personal interest focused individuals who mostly care about winning a zero sum game and the prosperity of ourselves, our family and our own beliefs primarily over others.
It comes down to an alignment of culture and values. There was once a time when we could confidently, and proudly, ascribe to a common set of "American Values" that defines what it means to be an American. It didn't matter if your state was "red" or "blue" -- it was understood that we had a set of guiding principles that were unassailable.
I suppose one could think that is an overly optimistic and romantic way of viewing things. Perhaps this post WWII fueled ideal was a sham from the start. Maybe we were all caught in a snapshot in time when we all seemed to be on the same page. Or maybe we never really believed these things at all. Maybe just acted liked we did in order to keep harmony. You know, keeping up appearances for the rest of the world to see.
Whatever the case, those days appear to be over.
In part due to generational gaps that involve many factors that include technology, how we embrace our differences, changes in how we communicate and where the wealth and power resides on our country, it is clear that we do not have a common set of values to guide us.
As I have seen and talked about first hand, organizations that have a dysfunctional culture and opaque view on values rarely succeed long term. They can hold things together for a while, but eventually the weight of it all is too great to bare. You can't fake culture. You can't have values without accountability.
Whether you were ecstatic about this turn of events or devastated, we are reaching a breaking point here, Friends. Today it is the government rescinding rights for women. What will it be tomorrow?
Can we please just return to precedented times? Or has the US of A reached the point of no return?
Sadly, I am thinking the latter. It's feeling like we are the FU, S of A now. Certainly hard to break out the old red, white and blue and proudly show your colors as we head into July 4th next week....
Sorry for the somewhat cynical preamble this week. I just call things as I see and feel them. And I have no answers on this one, Friends... I just know I have never felt so powerless to restore both serenity and sanity here....Not sure if you feel the same too.
XOXO
Dave
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