The Risks of Societal Success

        The United States, and more generally the developed world, has achieved massive success in the past 100 years. The strength of the capitalistic market, government action, international cooperation, and individual determination has led to stability and massive prosperity for more human beings than any time in history. Overall, this is a good thing. This leads to greater lifespans, access to education, luxuries, art, cultural development, and a speeding of technological achievement in areas other than war (memes mostly). But as with every development, it also brings some drawbacks for society. In this instance, it is the level of prosperity itself that is insulating groups so much it allows for divisive actions that would otherwise be problematic. It is primarily on display in a few areas of society: healthcare, political extremism, and broader social cooperation.

        The most immediately dangerous effect of our success is the regressions in healthcare, especially the anti-vax or “medical freedom” groups. The loose goals of these entities are to be exempt from various vaccines and other societal health measures for a number of reasons. Perhaps most prominently, they were the most vocal pushback against the COVID vaccines. And while as of May, 2023, 70% of the population was considered “fully vaccinated”, these groups remained convinced some terrible risk was just around the corner. While that was obviously untrue, being proven wrong has never prevented conspiracy theorists from thriving. They continue to push conspiracies about various other health measures, vaccines, and regulations. Even movements like unpasteurized milk, raw eggs, and other foods that they hope to ingest without safety measures. All of these lead to little downsides for those supporting it because of two reasons: the actions of everyone else, and medical advancements. The average American likely could choose to not be vaccinated in a number of ways, and still be safe. But their confidence is due to a fundamental misunderstanding of the world around them. They will likely not get sick not because of their incredible breakthrough to not be protected, but because of the majority of everyone else who has. I am reminded of the cartoon showing a person standing without an umbrella in the pouring rain, but they are covered by the umbrellas of other people, all the while shouting “you are all so silly to think you need an umbrella. I don’t have one and I am completely dry!” The other consideration is the consequences of these poor health choices, if they do get infected or sick, are also subdued because of the advancements in medicine. Sicknesses that used to be fatal are now routine with an over-the-counter pill solving most maladies we face today. Thus both the potential for, and the experience of a learning opportunity are both robbed from all but the most extreme circumstances because society has advanced so much.

        The second, and most personally frustrating, is political extremism. Along with societal advancement has come peace and prosperity. As the tide raises all boats, the people become content with the system that has been built. And why wouldn’t they? Look at all it has done for them. But this contentment also leads to a feeling of inevitability that can face down any test. Recently, it has been on display in two ways: the political and legal shenanigans of Donald Trump, and the more general disinformation surrounding Hurricane Helene. It is no secret that Mr. Trump has tested the legal and political boundaries of our system in the past decade. Whether it is refusing to adhere to norms we have held for decades, or attempting to (at the very least) violently disrupt the peaceful transfer of power. He has shown an utter disdain for the risks to our system. However, I do believe he understands he is pushing the limits. And it is impossible for him to not understand he has benefited from the society that others have built, he speaks every day of his great wealth. But this also demonstrates he takes the system for granted, one that can be tested because “it’ll be fine” in the end. These actions are even more on display with many other Republican politicians spouting off dangerous lies regarding FEMA’s response to Hurricane Helene which devastated several states and killed hundreds of Americans. While there are likely genuinely stupid politicians, most are not. They are highly educated, high achieving, members of society with access to the best information on the planet through the US government. They understand, having overseen federal response for thousands of natural disasters, how the system works. And yet, they feel completely at ease amplifying and echoing lies that will surely lead to thousands more suffering. Why do they do it? 50% must be due to the political pressure to participate in the Republican pastime of trashing the government they lead for cheap points in a cynical attempt to win elections. The other half is a false sense of security regarding the system’s strength. They are comfortable with the growing sentiment among their own that the system itself must be torn down because they think it will never happen. Just like on January 6th, while privately telling reports they didn’t believe the election was stolen, they supported the effort. When the mod broke into the building, every one of them ran for the bunker.

        Finally, there is the damage to social cooperation overall. By this I mean the various pressures on each person to be a productive member of society in any number of ways. As mentioned above, advancements in our society have lessened both the chance of consequences and the overall impact of those consequences if they do happen. The most productive environments, the information services sector, now support anti-social behavior that leads to cultural fraying. Isolation, fringe beliefs, the degradation of social norms are all supported by the internet. It used to be that there would be little to any method to maintain those behaviors while also supporting yourself, communicating with others, and maintaining friendships. But now, you can be even more engaged in production and communication while maintaining an isolationist lifestyle which actually leads to more isolation than before.

        Each of these is not a reason to abandon the pursuit of advancement as a society. Far from it. But a responsible population and government must be aware of the drawbacks that ail it, and act accordingly. For the so-called “health freedom” movements, robust regulation and laws should and mostly are in place. For political extremism, the only solution is rejection at the ballot box. And for social struggles, there is unfortunately little that can be done from an institutional standpoint. But there is hope because that is a place where the consequences truly do hurt the perpetrator in an emotional way. The best way is to make it clear to the average person what is troubling them is a result of the online habits they hold, rather than something more generally wrong with society.

        What is most fascinating about other radical movements similar to the current Republican Party’s disdain for institutions and democracy is the disconnect from previous supporting circumstances of the past. Every authoritarian leader who has emerged fundamentally depended upon the dissatisfaction of the population to convince them the system must be thrown aside and taken over by an autocrat. But that dissatisfaction was actually tied to real pain. Economic hardship, war, famine, mass panic, something. What is fascinating now is the pain felt by those Trump supporters is not real. Emotional pain, disconnections from your fellow man, all of these lead to darkness and depression within the self. But the reality does not reflect the perception. Trump talks day and night of “American carnage,” and how we are a “nation in decline.” His evidence? Either outright lies or simply asking people to reflect on how they feel. There is no economic measurement that is worse than 10 years ago. We are richer, healthier, more prosperous, and more productive than ever before. But, lending itself to Trump, we are more unhappy. An inevitable part of societal success is that we gain the ability to focus and worry about other, more ethereal things. The more distracted we are from reality, the more our mind wanders, and the more destructive it can potentially become.

        Parties tend to take things down extreme roads in today’s hyper-reality. A favorite habit on both the left and right extremes (though far more of a problem on the right), is to interpret a system’s flaws as evidence that the entire system is terrible. Republicans in charge of the party are tearing down everything, from democracy to the western alliances, to the United States itself. But never lose sight of the forest for the trees. It is because of the system we have made that we now have the luxury to care about the smaller details. It is because of the freedom, riches, and stability that we now can complain about everything. That we are grappling with fringe ideas and systematic issues is actually evidence of the system working well. It is only after the car is running that you can complain about the gas mileage. The same goes for The United States. We have achieved so much together and we will continue to do so. Just keep moving forward, together.

#FitzFile