By Bruce Goldfaden
And, here we are, coming to the end of our road trip in Indecency USA. The chimera of our political, cultural, and psychological indecency is hovering around us, the omnipresent negative energy attempting to strip us permanently of the essential moral and ethical principles of compassion, goodwill, and kindness. Will the chimera succeed or will decency prevail?
The chimera is not invincible. The light of decency within each of us never burns out. The light may dim overall like clouds covering the sun, but the sun is always there. And just as the sun reappears when the clouds break, decency will shine in our country again when we decide living in Indecency USA is not our right address, and we work on change. I know we can change because I’ve seen the clouds break in the most unusual places where our shared humanity shines brightly even among strangers. Where? At baseball games of all places.
Baseball games are the social interaction symbol for which we should all strive; this setting has good feelings and good vibrations because we’re all there for the same reason: cheering on the home team. [Other sports venues may be similar, but baseball is the only one I know firsthand.] I’m always amazed at how we become instant buddies. We talk to each other, maybe tell a funny story, and high-five each other. We accept each other as we are in that moment: humans being, as in humans being friendly with one another. The good vibrations are what you could call social magic or that totally positive energy of the unspoken connection, strangers becoming friends for a few fleeting hours. How is this possible?
Because the stadium setting is nonthreatening. And, because of the emotional safety inside the baseball stadium gates, we really are nice to each other. No one is judging another based on their appearance; no one is trying to act cooler than another; no one is making insulting remarks; no one is competing with a colleague; no one is gossiping about what someone did or didn’t do. We’re enjoying and cheering the same activity. Score one for the home team: us.
But, when the game is over, and we leave the stadium, the positive energy seems to be locked away inside the stadium gates. Clearly, something unconsciously shifts inside of us. Our internal scorekeeper resets, the real-world game clock restarts, and we return to our usual way of thinking for the most part. We judge people based on their appearance; we try to act way cooler than others; we frequently make insulting remarks; we compete with colleagues; we gossip about what someone did or didn’t do. And, worse: we commit acts of emotional or physical violence against one another. We’re humans not being; we’re humans acting vindictive and violent; the social magic instantly evaporated, replaced with antisocial tension. What happened?
Except in Indecency USA, the majority’s conscience seems to have been neutralized, as documented in this essay, except in at least two very prominent examples: federal social assistance and pet care. Our conscience and our decency enable us to take care of our pets like family with undivided attention and high-quality food, which is really cool. In fact, the pet food industry grew at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11.5% from 2017 to 2023 [2], outpacing the 10.8% average growth across 94 industry sectors. [3] Now, one of the fastest-growing retail segments, pet food spending is estimated to increase by nearly 50%, reaching $114 billion in the next five years or more than one-tenth of one trillion dollars. [4] These statistics combined with our federal social assistance, such as Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security, and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance, prove that we can be truly compassionate. So, why are we emotionally and, or physically hurting one another in other situations? With all of this in mind, you could say we’re living a paradox of compassion, revealing an urgent need to rebalance our thoughts.
So, what if we introduce a new type of CAGR not just for business, as described above, but for personal interaction. How about a Compassion Annual Growth Rate, one that measures morals and ethics? This new kind of CAGR leads me to Idea 1, the first of the five ideas I promised you in the introduction. The cumulative effect of these five ideas is to heal our paradox of compassion to address the political, cultural, and psychological elements of indecency that constitute Indecency USA. Or, think about the following ideas as recapturing the social magic of a baseball stadium applied in our everyday lives.
National Compassion Day
Imagine an official US holiday passed by Congress and signed into law by the President to renew compassion, goodwill, and kindness as core American values. These values have been essential to our ethical and moral prosperity alongside our economic success. This day would enable us to pause and reflect on our shared humanity, encouraging participation in discussion groups, community service, or personal observances. In the US, in 2023, we recognized 203 pet and animal awareness days, weeks, and months [5]—another example of our paradox of compassion described above—but not a single day dedicated to human compassion, a universal moral virtue defined as “sympathetic consciousness of others’ distress together with a desire to alleviate it.” [6] In a time when divisiveness overshadows our shared humanity, National Compassion Day would remind us of the common thread that unites us. Could we cross the chasm of our political, cultural, and psychological indecency to mark the start of a new era, one of renewed unity? Reach out to me if you'd like to get the ball rolling on this idea.
decency action network
With this essay, I am launching the decency action network. Our mission statement: The decency action network strengthens America’s core principles of compassion, goodwill, and kindness, which have sustained our prosperous way of life. For generations, our prosperity was built on honoring diverse perspectives, engaging with respect, and acting with integrity. Our goal is return to those days by working with leaders in communities, public education, entertainment media, social media, law enforcement, and politics to promote decency, which will ensure a brighter, more prosperous future for all Americans. Our vision statement: An America where universal compassion, goodwill, and kindness all thrive, restoring decency against forces that seek to strip them away. If you believe the time is right for a new era of decency, please visit us at decencyactionnetwork.com, and click on contact us to add your name to our email list and our weekly newsletter.
Require an emotional intelligence [EI] curriculum in the US public school system
Our nation’s public school system is in crisis with 1.3 million in-school crimes annually and dismal academic performance, ranking in the 10th percentile globally. A promising solution is a classic emotional intelligence (EI) curriculum, based on principles from Daniel Goleman’s groundbreaking 1995 book, Emotional Intelligence [7]. The classic EI principles—self-awareness, managing emotions, empathy, and interpersonal skills—are fundamental to personal and academic success. In Oakland, California, Goleman reported, an EI project improved students’ responsibility, empathy, and conflict resolution. Separate from Goleman’s book, a review of 27 studies with 13,909 participants concluded emotional intelligence predicts academic performance with a “high” effect size. [8] Better conduct and better grades: Can’t we all agree these are admirable results? Imagine a public education system where students receive the same quality education regardless of their zip code. With a nationally structured EI curriculum, public schools could finally serve as the great equalizer instead of the great unequalizer.
National Decency Initiative?
A Reuters/Ipsos poll published November 19, 2024, found that 23% of Americans believe “[President-elect] Trump should focus on unifying the country” during his first 100 days in office. [9] President-elect Trump, I would like to add my voice to this survey, joining those calling for unity in your first 100 days in office. Remarkably, another poll, which we discussed in part 2 of this essay, also found 23% of American adults want change now, but from a dramatically different point of view: They believe that political violence may be necessary to save the country. These two polls represent 122 million adults—61 million who favor violence and 61 million who favor unity. These two polls reveal that the chasm of our indecency is undeniable, a haunting reality, a mirror image of our fractured nation, where an equal number of people believe the path forward is unity… or violence. Maybe it’s time to look in the mirror and ask, “Do we like what we see?” Given the weight of these numbers, is it time for a National Decency Initiative? With a bipartisan task force, this initiative could bring together leaders in communities, public education, entertainment media, social media, law enforcement, and politics to find solutions to our decency crisis. The decency action network, and our marketing agency, LSV Communications, is ready to work with leaders to make this idea come to life.
And, so, let us end where we began: “If we were to take an imaginary road trip through the United States' moral and ethical landscape, where do you think we'd end up and see upon arrival? I think we’d find ourselves in Indecency USA with the scenery shaped by the forces that have divided and degraded us. For example, inside Indecency USA, we’d see millions upon millions of disillusioned and fearful people, pushed to their breaking point with no apparent way forward except to huddle in two groups—50% on one side and 50% on the other—separated by a chasm too deep and vast to bridge.
The chasm in our country threatens all of us. Will we continue to prosper if we continue to fracture? This fracturing distracts us from what truly matters: fortifying our liberty and enhancing our prosperity. We all win when we honor our differences instead of letting them divide us. Just like a baseball stadium where we all want the home team to win, don’t we all want the same things in our lives?: health, happiness, security? If we agree on these essentials, can we figure out how to get there with respect and with unity? Together, we can enhance our shared humanity and our way of living.
If you’ve leaned toward indecency, will you reconsider and change the course of Indecency USA? Or, not? If you’ve practiced decency, will you work with us to spread the word about what you’ve seen on this road trip through Indecency USA? Will you join us to end our political, cultural, and psychological indecency? Will you unite with us to slay the chimera?: the omnipresent negative energy attempting to strip us permanently of the essential moral and ethical principles of compassion, goodwill, and kindness. What is your decision?
And, as you think about your answer, think about these last words, please: The light of decency is within each of us, waiting to shine through the clouds of indecency and political division, the clouds of indecency and adolescent exploitation, the clouds of indecency and continuous violence. But, first, we must stop. Stop listening to our egos, the destructive self-talk that attempts to make us feel small and unworthy and, therefore, angry that the universe is working against us that, in turn, makes us feel powerless. And, that feeling of powerlessness results in some pretty bad decisions. But, in reality, we are powerful: Nothing is working against us except ourselves. So, let’s also stop standing in our own way and, finally, let go and…trust. We must choose compassion over indifference, goodwill over hostility, and kindness over cruelty. Only then will we heal. As individuals. As a nation. I'm voting with full faith on your positive response.
References
[1] Lee, Harper. To Kill a Mockingbird. 40th Anniversary Edition. New York: HarperCollins, 1993. Originally published 1960. Quote on p. 120.
[2] Mordor Intelligence. United States Pet Food Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2023-2028). https://www.mordorintelligence.com/industry-reports/pet-food-market-in-the-us-industry/market-size. Accessed October 31, 2024.
[3] Damodaran, Aswath. Historical Growth Rates by Sector. https://pages.stern.nyu.edu/~adamodar/New_Home_Page/datafile/histgr.html. Accessed October 31, 2024.
[4] Mordor Intelligence. United States Pet Food Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2023-2028). https://www.mordorintelligence.com/industry-reports/pet-food-market-in-the-us-industry/market-size. Accessed October 31, 2024.
[5] AMC NY. (2023). 2023 Pet Holidays and Veterinary Awareness Days. https://tinyurl.com/5x9ev3hc. Accessed October 31, 2023.
[6] Merriam-Webster. “compassion.” Merriam-Webster.com. Accessed November 1, 2024.
[7] Goleman, Daniel. Emotional Intelligence. New York: Bantam Books, 1995, pp. 37–38.
[8] Quílez-Robres, Alberto; Usán, Pablo; Lozano-Blasco, Raquel; and Salavera, Carlos. "Emotional Intelligence and Academic Performance: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis." Thinking Skills and Creativity Volume 49 (2023): Article 101355. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsc.2023.101355.
[9] Reuters. "Americans Want Trump to Focus on Inflation in His First 100 Days, Reuters/Ipsos Poll Finds." Reuters. November 19, 2024. https://tinyurl.com/mvdp5ctv. Accessed November 19, 2024.
[10] Voltaire. This quote is commonly attributed to Voltaire and reflects his philosophy on personal responsibility and moral action, though no specific source has been identified in his known works.
[11] Viktor Frankl Institute. Clarification on Misattributed Quote: “Between Stimulus and Response.” The quote often attributed to Viktor Frankl was actually shared by Stephen R. Covey, who mentioned finding it in a library book though the original author is unknown. For further details, see the Viktor Frankl Institute PDF introduction by Covey whose explanation appears in the Foreword, p. VI. Accessed October 28, 2024. https://tinyurl.com/mst7dp8b.
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Bruce Goldfaden is the founder of LSV Communications, a digital marketing agency structured on the principle of value proposition messaging to differentiate a company from competitors. He is the author of The Man of Many Colors, a parable about recognizing one's individual value to recognize this value in others to live by the Golden Rule, the appropriate code of conduct. The Man of Many Colors is available on amazon.com.
Copyright © 2024 Bruce Goldfaden and LSV Communications LLC. All rights reserved. No part of this essay may be reproduced or redistributed in any form or by any means—except through sharing via a link to this web page or for brief quotations in a review—without the express written permission of Bruce Goldfaden and LSV Communications LLC.
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