There has been an increased rash of demonstrable uncivil behavior in
the public arena. Recently, the music artist Taylor Swift at the MTV
Video Music Awards encountered a new breed of incivility. Moments
after she received one of the music awards rapper Kanye West stormed
the stage, plucked the microphone from her hand, and announced in front of the
entire audience and millions of viewers at home that Beyonce Knowles
had the best video and that she, instead of Swift, deserved the award.
This
was less than 24 hours after Serena Williams unleashed a
profanity-laden tirade against a line judge at the U.S. Tennis Open
after what she thought was a questionable call. The outburst cost her
the match when she was penalized a point for her behavior. And
Representative Joe Wilson of South Carolina shouted "You lie!" at
President Obama during his health care speech to a joint session of
Congress. By all accounts recently there has been a rash of bad
behavior. People, is seem, are no longer restraining their emotions.
An article found here wonders "are these outbursts merely circumstantial, or are they an indication of a shift in our nation's values?"
"'There
is an increasing coarseness to American discourse,' columnist George
Will said. He blamed our impulsivity and rudeness on a "culture of
entitlement" where we celebrate "emotional exhibitionism" on football
fields, cable television, and the Internet."
"'We've decided
that it is therapeutic to express oneself no matter how coarse one's
thoughts, and that whatever is therapeutic is good,' Will said. 'I
think we're seeing a kind of emotional exhibitionism whereby people
say, 'I said something ghastly, but I said it honestly and sincerely.'
And honesty, sincerity, and authenticity are self-legitimizing.'"
It
seems,
to many, that "anything goes" if one is passionate, sincere, and
sorry. As a result there are outbursts, arguments and assaults--verbal
and otherwise. The key root in the word "civilization", however, is
"civil". The definition of "civil" includes being courteous and
polite, the concept is based upon one of respect, which of course, is
based upon the
consideration of others. One of my favorite definitions of a "gentleperson" is "one who helps others to feel comfortable in their presence."
Perhaps
its time for the "me generations", all of us, to consider others as
important as ourselves, to return "respect" to our daily routines, and
bring a little civility to our world. Our current crop of celebrities,
government leaders, and sports figures certainly DON'T seem to be
setting the example.
