Citizenship: America's great 20th century failing

I'm not talking about citizenship, as in the latest partisan argument du jour about our nation's Southern border and migration policies. I'm talking about citizenship the way it was used and taught in our schools back in the first half of the previous century - that now-nearly-lost-forever amalgam of habits, rules, and social norms that all served to temper a person's natural self-interest, forging behavior that somehow seemed to nearly always support "the collective" (that would be what used to be known as a community).

In perusing today's New York Times I see articles about a range of seemingly disparate topics:

• In the wake of the collapse of an interstate highway bridge in Minneapolis/St. Paul, it turns out that thousands of bridges in the US are in a similar state of disrepair. Officials are citing lack of available funds as one reason for it, along with local governments choosing to shunt off responsibility for footing the bills to their successor administrations;
• the world of sports being undermined by steroids, unscrupulous officiating, and unsavory off-the-field behavior (such as breeding fighting dogs);
• young and even pre- teens, pushed by over-zealous parents to focus on and excel in a single sport, seeking the help of psychologists to help them overcome mental blocks;
• families living in Silicon Valley communities with net worths over a million dollars, some in the several millions, feeling they need to keep working to keep up (with what it is not always clear);
• an editorial writer reacting to last week's article about medical costs and the way high salaries paid to doctors are a big part of the problem. The writer wanted to ask whether anyone thought his or anyone else's kids, who were capable of getting into med school, would do so if the salary for doctors was limited to a paltry $120,000 per year, the way it is in Europe;
• a recap of the week's news, showing how members of the President's cabinet, when asked to testify against Gonzales, invoked executive privilege in refusing to testify.

See the trend? No? In each one of these items there is a common theme. In some ways it will come as no surprise. The theme is greed. This should not be news to anyone over the age of about six years old, who can understand the concept.

What may come as a surprise (to some, anyways) is that greed is not the relatively harmless pursuit many of the over-achieverers or the other self-absorbed think it is. The bridge that collapsed killing a dozen or so motorists was caused by greed. And I don't mean some abstract, governmental notion of greed - I'm talking about the only kind of greed that truly exists: the greed of individuals. Leaders. People who are more concerned about maximizing their own little patch in this country than they are about the safety and well-being of those they were elected (and entrusted) to serve. For if I'm a local official and know about the need to spend extra dollars, but driving for that spending will either upset voters, or otherwise compromise my ability to do things that would get me even more votes, then I won't do it - even though it's the right thing to do.

And if I'm a professional cyclist training for the Tour, and I believe that using banned chemicals is the only way to be successful - and earn fame and fortune - then I will do it, even though I know it's wrong.

And if I'm a member of the President's cabinet, and I think I can save my hide by lying, or otherwise corrupting the proceedings against me or my administration, I will do it, even though I know it's wrong.

And if I'm a bright, school-minded teenager looking at career options, and doctoring doesn't pay enough, then I'm going to Wall Street, even though I really care about medicine, and helping people.

What in the hell has happened to us? When did we, as a people, stop caring about each other completely, and turn our focus so single-mindedly on ourselves? We have lost much of our understanding of what it means to be part of a collective; to be citizens who are part of one nation. We have forgotten what it was like to settle untamed wilderness, establish communities that banded together to fight the elements, ensure enough food to endure hard winters, and help each other build whatever the community needed to survive. In other words, maybe we've lost any sense of needing to rely on each other.

This is sad. It is frustrating. For a growing number of people the inequity of it all is infuriating. Marx predicted rebellion of the masses would be the outcome of a society that becomes too lopsided. Are we headed that way? Would that be a good thing? Is the war in the Middle East a well-considered diversion, intended by the current administration to keep attention off of the growing inequity and societal collapse inside our own borders?

I hope we can rediscover what it means to be a citizen again. I hope we can remember how important it was to our survival to be a part of "the collective." One suggestion: re-introduce the teaching citizenship to our children. Make it mandatory. I don't think that's enough, though. A lot of this starts at home - with parents whose values are communicated to their offspring as sure as day follows night. Wake up, people! We are doing this to ourselves.