Is America a Serious Country?

by Rebecca Bynum (April 2012)

Perhaps because I came of age during the cold war when nuclear annihilation could result from the slightest political miscalculation, political realities born in seriousness have actually grown in seriousness in my mind while they seem simultaneously to have shrunk in the minds of others. I often feel like William Holden’s character in Network watching the rest of the world playing Faye Dunaway. News is entertainment, politicians are celebrities, issues are subordinate to personalities and no matter how critical or complex the subject, it must be reduced to a sound bite or a one minute answer in a “debate.”

a two tier culture and this is the very opposite of what it once meant to be an American – when it mattered much more how you lived than how much you had acquired. For American idealists, wealth was once a paltry and unworthy goal, fit only for small and grasping souls. Now it is a major defining factor, determining a wide range of attitudes and life decisions.

The unavoidable conclusion is that America is no longer a serious country. We are a fracturing country, a crumbling country. And while it is indisputable that we do not take our enemies seriously, more disturbing is the fact that we no longer take ourselves or our country seriously enough to defend her.

To comment on this essay, please click here.

here.

If you have enjoyed this article, and would like to read more by Rebecca Bynum, click here.

Rebecca Bynum contributes regularly to The Iconoclast, our Community Blog. Click here to see all her contributions, on which comments are welcome.