A common modern fallacy is believing things are really terrible now. Even with war in the Ukraine, inflation, climate change, and Covid-19 resurging, most of the people on the planet are doing better than ever. Poverty is at low levels, there is more justice, more wealth, and more ways to help others than ever before. BUT, and I think this is what is actually stirring most of the angst, all this progress could stop and even recede because of the RISE OF THE JERK.
Are there more jerks as a percentage of the population than before? Not likely, but I cannot cite any specific jerk percentage research. What we see now is a surge in jerkness worldwide, and what is infuriating the ones who note it and write about it is we all should know better by now. After Hitler and the Nazi henchmen were finally crushed (with surprisingly few exceptions), and Stalin died alone and paranoid, it looked like the world was on a strong upward trend: information moved better and better, as did communication; travel improved markedly; food production could keep up with population growth most of the time; and the threat of a nuclear holocaust was so terrifying it kept international conflicts to small proxy wars that devastated only the locals and seldom affected those outside the conflict zones. Governments became increasingly accountable, and some actually showed they could work well, especially in the Scandinavian region, where the focus seems to be primarily on improving the lives of the people who live there. What a concept.
All this time there have been jerks, but they were marginalized, and society looked unfavorably on them, shall we say, cancelled them? Your George Wallaces, Strom Thurmonds, and Jesse Helms did their worst to hold back human progress, but their sway only extended so far, and their malevolence was accompanied by enough incompetence people didn’t take them too seriously. Over the past 40 years or so, as my post before this one posits, the leaders of the jerks have been able to alter public opinion, making selfishness, which they conflate with “liberty,” the primary motivation of their principles. Unleashing selfishness during the Reagan era was the signal achievement of that era; there was a palpable change in attitudes. It was no longer enough to have a decent job where people were treated well, an adequate house, and a working car. The American dream morphed into getting whatever you wanted all the time and as much as possible at other peoples’ expense. It wasn’t enough for a person to do well; others had to be miserable.
I have also written about authoritarians and how much trouble they cause. It is quite clear a huge percentage of authoritarians have been activated by their leadership over the past 40 years in more and more socially unacceptable ways. Their once hidden or suppressed racism, greed, and feelings of victimhood are now encouraged and stoked. I am old enough to remember when jerks were looked down on; now the bigger jerk you are, the higher you climb in the Republican Party, and many other parties in other countries where jerks have risen to positions of power, from Turkey and Hungary to the Philippines and Nicaragua. The underlying problem in the USA is the current electoral system; only the greediest, the narcissists and most ambitious will put up with what is now required to be a politician and run for office (and keep it). There are a few shining lights, but they are few. I have also written about the aching need for election reform, including public funding and other corrections codified clearly by a constitutional amendment. It is my feeling that the American people, presented with a solution that would filter out the psychopaths, performance artists, conmen and corrupt, take the money out of politics, and severely limit how many ads we would have to see while watching TV, would gladly try it. The problem is any amendment would have to get approved by the very politicians who want to keep the status quo. Many people consider the founding fathers to be almost godlike, but they did a terrible job with many aspects of the republic, especially making it too hard to change the very flawed Constitution to make it more relevant to our times. What we need are honest, hard working people who understand government, compromise, and service, protected from lobbying and fundraising. This will not completely eliminate the jerk from our politics, but the appeal will be a lot less, and we will get a government that works for the people rather than the rich and corrupt. Until then we have an unfair fight against keeping the jerks from taking over everything and permanently rigging it all in their favor, which is definitely possible in the next ten years. The worst part is the fight is not fair; they cheat like crazy, and those who want a proper democracy and working government can never, ever let their guard down or think the jerks have changed. They will never admit they are wrong or give up trying to get their way.