Culture Wars

United States has always been considered the “land of the free.” One of the freedoms Americans cherish most is their freedom of speech, which naturally includes the freedom to maintain any opinion. However, there comes a time when certain opinions held by a group of people become detrimental to the prosperity and the well being of the country. One example of such a detriment is the moralists’ belief that the United States is experiencing a steady moral and spiritual decay. This argument is the fundamental backbone of the culture wars that have been plaguing this country since its conception. In reality, “[the moralists] who preach of the moral decline of the nation are splitting the country into warring factions”, and are, in fact, causing these culture wars themselves.

Contemporary moralists point to issues such as the rising rates of crime, divorce, welfare dependency, and sexual activity as a sign that this country is going straight to the devil. These moralists, or progressives as they can also be called, opt for government intervention to, at best, improve or to, at least, stabilize the moral standard of the nation. Superficially, their petition to improve America cannot look menacing at all. However, upon closer inspection, their demands unintentionally divide the country into what James Morone calls “virtuous us” or those who are considered “moral”, and the “vicious them”- those who are statistically responsible for the rising rates mentioned

This mythical divide constructs an enemy, an explanation for the difficulties facing the United States, to such an extent that the public, with the coaxing of the moralists, is willing to fight this fabricated enemy at the expense of their own welfare. The prior statement raises two important questions: why are the divides mythical and what are the expenses facing the society for believing in them?

The divides do not exist because the moralists fail to see the broader cultural changes that explain most increases in immoral behavior of the society. To begin to understand these changes, let us consider the crime rate that the moralists are so quick to indicate skyrocketed in respect to the levels of previous generations. Gertrude Himmelfarb, an epitome of a moralist, points to the statistics that show the serious crimes, such as homicides, ” are 50 percent higher today than they were in 1950.” This statistic, however, fails to include three lurking variables that explain the discrepancy in the rates. The first of these variables is the manufacturing and marketing of faster and more powerful guns; the second, American war on drugs has succeeded in limiting the supply but also made the drugs more lucrative, hence, increasing criminal activity; Third, the drop in demand for unskilled labor, due to technological replacements, forced many to engage in criminal exploits, for a source of income. The combination of these three factors, not a decline in morals, account for the surge in criminal activity.

Another issue moralists surface when preaching about the decay of the nation’s ethics is divorce. Again, to use Himmelfarb as a progressive representative, she states that the number of children living with one parent has risen from less than one-tenth to more than one-quarter and the number of children under 15 living with unmarried couples has grown from 200,000 to 1.3 million, in the 35 years since 1960. This statistic completely ignores the changes in the American work force. Over these 35 years, women have earned their place among the men in the business world and grew less reliant on marriage as a source of income and security. This growth in women’s economic independence translated to women marrying for the pursuit of happiness rather than out of necessity. Happiness, unlike financial security, is harder to find, hence, the increase in the divorce rate, which in exchange for women’s rights and opportunities is not a steep price to pay.

Next issue on the moralists’ agenda is society’s dependence on government programs such as welfare. Welfare itself, however, was a progressive idea that originated from previous generations of moralists, who tried to raise the standard of living for the poorest class. The fact that welfare is failing or is destined to fail has little to do with people’s chronic dependency on it. Welfare, like communism, was a good idea but not a very practical one. The problem with welfare is not the people’s dependency on it as their only source of income, but that many people on welfare cannot find decent (check paying) jobs or turn to mediocre job that pay cash. If the people who work for cash would honestly report their true income, they would not be eligible for welfare. Most, however, see no point in disclaiming their true earnings (there is no record of it anyway) and losing their welfare check every month.

If crime, divorce, and welfare do not express decay in the morals of the United States but show a mere progression in the modernization of society, can that decline be seen through an increase in sexual activity, especially among younger teenagers?

The society has not only progressed technologically, but also psychologically. Children are being exposed to issues such as sex and death ever earlier in their lives through mediums such as cinema and television. This accounts for children’s maturation at a rather adolescent age, a phenomenon that can be equated to prearranged marriages of young teens and even Himmelfarb’s “tweens” in Shakespearean and pre-modern times, which compelled young boys and even younger girls to enter into marriage at an age that would seem inappropriate by today’s standards. An increase in sexual activity is also related to a greater awareness and availability of contraception and also a medically proven fact that puberty is occurring prematurely in both boys and girls.

Seeing an increase in these rates as evils or as a lack of morality of the society, entices progressives to stimulate a change that will curb their effects on the United States. The result is the creation of client-based government programs that inflict damage to the entire nation and have almost no effect on the actual causes of the problem. Examples of such creations is welfare (as noted previously) and affirmative action. Welfare is not a cure for dishonesty, laziness, or a lack of skills and affirmative action is not a cure for racism.

Moralists and progressives, who are blaming people for losing a sense of righteousness, due to an increase in several statistics, are polluting our country. It is rather the natural progressive change in society that fluctuates these numbers. Proof of that is the fact that the numbers fluctuate and are not on a steady incline. Himmelfarb, herself, admits the crime rate fell since the 1980s and so did sexual activity among adolescents. This country is far from going to hell as a whole, hence, conservatives should control and legislate laws before the progressives will send the nation there.