New Year’s Resolutions and the Betterment of America

Commentary

It’s that time of year again when people across the United States (and beyond, of course) make vague New Year’s resolutions.

They vow to become better humans, healthier individuals, or more scrupulous savers. The thing about most of these resolutions is that they are usually focused on the betterment of an individual. They revolve around improving the life of one person. What about improving the lives of millions of people? What if more Americans made a promise to make the country a more rational place? In other words, what if they made a commitment to restore some common sense? After all, in this rather crazy world, common sense is frighteningly uncommon.

Fifty years ago, Kurt Vonnegut wrote “Harrison Bergeron,” a dystopian science-fiction short story packed with more than a few laughs. In the year 2081, through the introduction of various handicaps, all U.S. citizens have been made “equal.” The law, somewhat laughably, is fully enforced by Diana Moon Glampers, the Handicapper General. Handicaps come in many forms. The country’s top ballerinas, for example, are prevented from dancing too beautifully. The intelligent, meanwhile, are prevented from being too intelligent. One clever individual has a device implanted in his ear. Why? Because he’s too clever. To weaken his intellectual abilities, every 20 seconds, a sharp noise is emitted, preventing him from having any truly constructive thoughts.

Fast forward to today, and the United States reflects this fictional tale. Sadly, unlike Vonnegut’s story, there’s nothing funny about the sorry state in which the United States now finds itself. A country that once prided itself on greatness finds itself handicapped in many ways.

If in doubt, let me point you in the direction of the education system. The United States was once home to the best education system in the world. Now, as you are probably aware, that is no longer the case. A recent report by the World Top 20 Project, an international organization that collects and analyzes educational data, shows that the United States now trails the likes of Finland, Denmark, and South Korea. Since the early 2000s, academic standards have continued to slip. The reasons for this regression are many. One of them involves a sort of “woke” madness that has infiltrated U.S. classrooms, from the elementary level up to the university level. A fixation on spreading false narratives and punishing those who push back—all in the name of progress, of course—has proven to be detrimental. Facts have been replaced by dangerous fiction. Common sense has been cast aside.

This madness has also played a significant role in the destruction of the entertainment industry. There was a time, not that long ago, when the United States produced great TV, great movies, and great music on a consistent basis. Alas, those days are long gone. When was the last time a new TV show, movie, or artist got you genuinely excited? This is not to say that good musicians or good movies no longer exist; it’s to say that they have become exceedingly rare.

Like the education industry, the entertainment industry has swapped the pursuit of excellence for the pursuit of something else entirely. When Hollywood sold itself to China, this resulted in fewer quality movies tailored to a Western audience; compelling storylines were traded in for tedious franchises. As American director Quentin Tarantino recently lamented, franchises have resulted in the “Marvelisation” (a reference to the proliferation of Marvel movies) of Hollywood.

Although the TV industry didn’t sell itself to China, it did sell itself to the diversity gurus, the type of people who obsess about the skin color and sexual orientation of cast members rather than their actual acting abilities. A TV show is more likely to be judged by the diversity of its cast than its actual dialogue or plot. One couldn’t make a show like “Friends” today, we’re told, because the cast just wasn’t diverse enough.

The demise of the music industry, meanwhile, is a little more difficult to explain. In an essay published last year, I explained how the rise of YouTube was a destructive force for musicians who prided themselves on producing actual music. Today, I noted, “musicians are no longer awarded for originality.” Instead, “an artist is more likely to be judged on the quality of their video rather than the quality of their music.” This explains why an average artist can create a mediocre song and be treated like Elton John or David Bowie. Often, if the video is sensational enough, the music doesn’t even matter. An increasing number of people now consume music with their eyes, not their ears.

The deterioration of the country’s academic standards and the entertainment industry are just two examples of the country’s regression. One wonders what Kurt Vonnegut, the aforementioned author, blessed with brains and a sense of humor, would have to say about this rather alarming decline. We’ll never know. But what we do know is this: if the decline is to be arrested, it will require millions of Americans to pull in the same direction.

Happy New Year!

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.