I was with a dear client last week in Baltimore and this subject came up. How did we (the United States) get here? Meaning all the mudslinging, discord, and civil unrest?

I think there have been many society changing periods/events over the last 70+/- years that may have led us to where we are, but the following represent a few in my opinion that caused a shift in the fabric of the American way.

First – The end of WWII. It was a euphoric and lifestyle altering period in US history. People came together regardless of religion, race, sex, status etc. and we were all Americans and all joyful the war was over. 416,000 of our youngest, died during the war and the citizens of all backgrounds began putting life back together.

Second – TV and air-conditioning – Before the inventions of these two things, people would sit on their porch and talk to their neighbors. There was a ‘us’ attitude that meant everybody regardless of color, creed, religion etc. They knew all their neighbors and they took time to get to know people. When TV and air-conditioning became mainstream in homes, people started staying inside their homes and kids started watching shows instead of riding bikes and it shifted the social fabric that was holding neighborhoods together.

Third – the availability of the internet in the early 90’s. It was a whole new informational world that changed the live/work/play dynamic. Nothing was off limits and parents had to be careful to monitor what their children were seeing. People could research almost any subject in minuetes and it began to shift how people bought and sold anything and made all manor of public records instantly available to everyone. It almost changed everything.

There were other global conflicts, wars, 911, recessions, dot com bust etc. that could be mentioned but the following is the grandaddy of them all when it comes to how we got here.

Before we get there, let me set the stage. Remember the Dixie Chicks?  They were a popular country music group in the late 90’s and early 2000’s.  In March of 2003 they were doing a concert in London and one of the band members said, “she was ashamed that George Bush was from her home state of Texas.” From that moment on, no radio station in American would play their music any longer. It was the end of the Dixie Chicks. Americans rallied around their president and God help anyone that said disparaging comments about the president of the United States.  Look at what people today say in public speeches, news clips, social media, at rallies, about the last three presidents. There is no filter or slang word too aggressive or off limits any longer. There is no respect for the office of the president any longer and a growing disrespect for God and Country.

The point – it has only been 22 years from what happed to the Dixies Chicks to what is happening now. Back to the original question, how did we fall so hard and so fast?

Fourth – now for the big finish – Life in America (in my opinion) as we knew it made the most dramatic shift of the past 70 years when a hand-held internet capable devise was invented (the iPhone) and social media platforms were created so people could instantly say whatever they felt or thought to everyone in their sphere of influence.  Good and bad things people say became basically 24/7 accessible in the palm of your hand.

Today AI has taken it to a whole new level because AI basically scraps the whole internet in seconds and reports everything said in real time.

The scary version – Take a moment and think about the last time we all came together in America. There was no them/us, red-blue, religion, race etc. etc. just us Americans. Wait for it,,,,, It was the day after 911.

So, our prayer should be that it doesn’t take something like 911 again to bring us back together. That certainly is my prayer and hopefully yours too. KT