Too Much Ado

When I was in college, a freshman seeking some attention invited the American Nazi, George Lincoln Rockwell, to speak at a small campus group created specifically for the event. In a day the campus went mad. Classes were cancelled, meetings held, some administrators tried to figure out how the school could abort the invitation. Eventually an entire week of the school calendar was changed to accommodate a week of impromptu seminars and lectures on Nazism. Table pounding, heartfelt angst was experienced by all. It was great fun. I am reminded of that time:
--A New York judge recently struck down a lawsuit by a guy contending that ladies' night at bars violated the equal protection clause---against men; it is the talk of the blogs.
--A self-proclaimed southern minister has made international headlines by announcing his plans to burn copies of the Koran this month; his congregation is around fifty souls. Mayor Bloomberg of New York and Angelina Jolie had an opinion on the proposed book burning.
--A small group wants to build a mosque near the site of the 9/11 attack in New York; it is an international story with angry debates.

It is easy to look at the above and blame a surfeit of lawyers or a shortage of creches. After all, August is a notoriously slow news month and Christmas will be coming. Yet there seems to be more--or maybe less--at work here. We simply have a lot of information available and little self-control. And we are easily driven to indignation. Everyone wants to be righteous. And everyone wants heard.

At one time in this country it was big enough and communications were limited enough that silly ideas and suggestions remained a local event--if a problem at all. Even after communications improved a wacko was seen as little more. Interesting moments in the country--the Symbionese Liberation Army, Timothy Leary, much of the activity of the ACLU--were all seen in context by an indulgent but confident culture. Even in my college Nazi experience, the tempest was quite content to be limited to the campus teapot. Now every crazy numerator stimulates its equally crazy denominator to cancel it out. Every opinion deserves a sound truck. Every notion, every behavior, every occurrence is seen as more than itself; it is seen as a validation of principles, either personal or national, when it may be nothing more than a quirk or a tick or simple exhibitionism.

Stupidity and bad taste are hard to legislate against but they can be combated. They are best scorned. But it requires some shared cultural beliefs, some respected social spokesmen and some equipoise, some assurance that the social footing is firm. And it requires a press that recognizes these needs.

Most important, it requires adults of good will. This is a culture desperate for grownups.