Is the Golden Rule tarnished?

Is the Golden Rule tarnished?  Where has civility in America gone?

The Golden Rule (which can be considered a law of reciprocity in some religions) is the principle of treating others as one would wish to be treated. It is a maxim that is found in many religions and cultures.  And for many centuries the idea has been influential among people of very diverse backgrounds…

Despite a daily barrage of partisan conflict, Americans from both political parties are generally united in the belief that uncivil behavior is rampant and having profound and negative effects on our democracy, according to a poll released in March by KRC Research.

The 8th installment of Civility in America by Weber Shandwick and Powell Tate conducted with KRC Research found large majorities of the public agreeing that incivility is a major societal problem that is getting worse, promoting political gridlock, causing people to disengage from politics, generating hate speech and crimes, increasing verbal and cyber bullying and leading to intolerance of free speech.

And over the last decade, we couple this with the concept of “free speech” to now (wrongly I would suggest) include personal attacks from Politicians/Celebrities/Sports Stars/Musicians (on both sides), and on and on and on…

Are you tired of this?  I am.  It comes from the right, the left, celebs, comedians, sports stars, news anchors, our neighbors, our friends – it is everywhere.  I used to call these folks “keyboard terrorists”, but it has now become not just commentary written on the inter webs of Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc., but it is also verbal on the news shows, talk shows, and sports shows. 

What has happened to civility in America?  I am embarrassed, are you?  We have come to a very dark place in America. Too many shootings, too many personal arguments from public opinions, too much disrespect for authority, too much disrespect from authority, racism, sexism, bullying, the list goes on.

We seem to think that we can disobey laws just for our self-worth and value. Privilege has become very relevant and also detrimental to our society. Facebook has become a social battleground where people believe that they can say whatever they want and not have consequences (see my earlier comment on keyboard terrorists). And by the way, since Facebook has evolved from catching up on friends, their kids growing up, vacation photos etc. to this online battleground where seemingly everyone has become political experts and have decided to run against each other, rather than being friends.  Sad.  Can we not have public debate on issues and not get personal?

So what has happened to the Golden Rule we all learned growing up?  It even evolved from “treat others as you want to be treated” to “treat others as THEY want to be treated”.  Somewhere in our evolution (and I use that term loosely for this discussion) this seems to have fallen off the radar of what is important.  It seems in the last few years all of the hatred and ignorance that we push towards one another has grown exponentially.  It now seems that if you are different and we do not understand you then you must be “bad”.  How can we work together to build patience, and understanding and mutual respect?   Together.  We.  Win. 

Let me say that again – Together.  We.  Win.  We are the melting pot of many great and rich cultures and histories.  This makes us the wonderfully diverse country that we are.  We will never be what we can be when we are divided and full of hatred.  Kindness is currency.  I am very quickly growing tired of our collective behavior.  I think it is time for our morals and values and collective goodness to speak up and overtake the current negativity and divisiveness in our society today.

I always try to be positive, but this week this issue has weighed heavily on me and I think it is time for the majority of Americans who live right and do right to stand up and stop the madness.  Maybe this is a rant or maybe we can do something, but I feel the need to speak up. We are the “United” States after all.

Together.  We.  Win.

Dave Harmon
People Division
“Kindness is Currency”
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/davidharmonhr

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