As defined by Reference.com, “Civil society is composed of the totality of voluntary civic and social organizations and institutions that form the basis of a functioning society as opposed to the force-backed structures of a state (regardless of that state’s political system) and commercial institutions” (“Civil society”). This definition of civil society indicates that American civil society is lacking, as the number of civic and social organizations dwindles towards oblivion. There are many areas that have been suggested as places to assign the blame, but there are a variety of factors that have combined to serve as catalysts and yield our present plight. I attribute the majority of the blame, however, to one of these factors: work. Although I blame work for our current American civil society status, humanism can be used to fix the problem and improve the quality of our lives as well as the health of our society.
A variety of factors have forced us into our contemporary predicament, but work is the major underlying cause. The fundamental issue that has allowed work to degrade civil society is our declining importance of family and friends and increasing emphasis on ‘things’. The only way to get ‘things’ is to work, to earn money, and to purchase. This overwhelming materialism has caused Americans to lose sight of the reasons for which the emphasis on work was so high in the first place. Immigrants came to this country in order not only to make a better life for themselves (yes, materially speaking) but also for their family. Many people do work to support their families and maintain the lifestyle to which each member has become accustomed, but the average American has lost sight of this fact – that they are working to support their family because they care about them and they mean a great deal within the worker’s life. I would not deny the fact that people realize they love their family, but I would argue the point that Americans’ obsession with providing for their families’ ‘needs’ has led to them spending less time with their families overall. When they get home from work they do not want to play games, or engage in anything constructive, they want to sit and vegetate in front of the television, sleep away their exhaustion, or drown it in alcohol. This may seem a bit dramatic to some, but I am willing to bet that many Americans do at least one of these things to cope with the overwhelming stress and anxiety caused by working so much. My question is this: ‘If we work so much, when will we have the time to enjoy the benefits of our work?’ These benefits would include things like spending time with family, friends, taking trips, or having the ability to relax (from the peace of mind that you get when you have enough money to rely on). Instead, Americans turn to their televisions and away from the social connections that were once given such high priority.
Several writers of the day have echoed and/or supported my sentiments regarding Americans’ inability to function socially. In Barbara Kingsolver’s Jabberwocky, she writes: “We seem to be living in the age of anesthesia, and it is no wonder. Confronted with knowledge of dozens of apparently random disasters each day, what can a human heart do but slam its doors?...It’s a practical strategy to some ends, but the loss of empathy is also the loss of humanity, and that’s no small tradeoff” (Kingsolver 208). While she is not saying that American civil society is languishing, she is pointing out that Americans have become ‘desensitized’, no longer feeling emotion for the awful things they see, as they have seen them so many times before. It is this disconnection from the world that has landed our civil society in its present state of affairs. Neil Postman’s Amusing Ourselves to Death proclaims that “America is engaged in the world’s most ambitious experiment to accommodate itself to the technological distractions made possible by the electric plug,” and claims that Aldous Huxley, author of Brave New World, saw that “people will come to love their oppression, to adore the technologies that undo their capacities to think” (Postman 196). He eventually comes to the conclusion that this is one of the “ways by which the spirit of a culture may be shriveled” (Postman 200). This is exactly what has happened, Americans have lost sight of what is really important in their lives. Martin E. P. Seligman’s Work and Personal Satisfaction, summarizes all of these points in saying that “Money…is losing its power…more money adds little or nothing to subjective well-being” and although “real income in America has risen 16 percent in the last thirty years, the percentage of people who describe themselves as “very happy” has fallen from 36 to 29 percent”. It seems that the American drive for a comfortable life, as fueled by materialism and a subsequent need to work, has led to an unhappy existence, with fewer social connections which could in fact help to defray the effects of working so much. There are other writers who support my point of view, however.
Several other writers have written about the effects of materialism and the loss of social connections within society. Pope John Paul II wrote in his Centesimus Annus that “The economy in fact is only one aspect of and one dimension of the whole of human activity…if the production and consumption of goods become the centre of social life and society’s only value…the reason is to be found…[that] the economic system itself as in the fact that the entire socio-cultural system…has been weakened” (Pope John Paul II 157). He further emphasizes my point that Americans are forgetting the former value that they placed on their families in saying: “When man does not recognize in himself and in others the value and grandeur of the human person, he effectively deprives himself of the possibility of benefiting from his humanity…a society is alienated if its forms of social organization, production, and consumption make it more difficult to offer this gift of self and to establish this solidarity between people” (Pope John Paul II 159). One must not forget that it is the American materialistic drive to work that has enabled man’s ability to forget the value of his fellow human counterparts and has also led to the decline of American civil society. Lastly, I would like to mention Robert D. Putnam, who stated in his controversial book, Bowling Alone, that there has been an immense decline in the membership of many traditional organizations. The most memorable example is that of bowling leagues, in which membership has declined, but the number of people bowling has increased greatly (“Robert D. Putnam”). This can be explained by the disconnection that I previously mentioned. Americans have unplugged their social lives in favor of plugging in their television sets or whatever other distractions they can get their hands on, all in an effort to assuage the stress of the increasing amount of time they spend working. There is hope however, as solutions exist that could turn our society around.
Despite the common perception that ‘the world is going to hell in a hand-basket’, there is still hope for the future. If American society as a whole can come together and realize how many fundamental issues it has, and genuinely wants to fix the problem, we can restore our civil society to its former glory. ‘How?’, one might ask. My answer: humanism. Having been introduced to the idea by studying the Italian Renaissance in a European history class, I realized what an amazing society it must have been. What an outstanding philosophical stance humanism took: placing particular emphasis on the worth of the individual and the individual’s education. Humanistic education encompassed a wide variety of disciplines, oratory, ethics, history, rhetoric, and poetry to name a few – relying on ancient Greek and Roman texts for study. The part of humanism that interested me the most was its stress on citizenship and participation within the community. Humanists felt obligated to get involved in politics and they wanted to improve humanity and society by instilling a feeling of patriotism and public duty within the general population (“Renaissance”). This description of humanism is the answer to our present struggles.
My charge to the American public is to embrace the humanistic ideals, their educational and political philosophies particularly. If Americans would become less focused on themselves and put more emphasis on their community and American society as a whole, not only would they be happier, but American civil society would also improve and the overall quality of life would as well. By giving special significance to the community and civil society, Americans’ overwhelming need for inter-personal relationships and connections will once again be satisfied, and no longer neglected. They will work less, contribute to society more, and spend more time building the vital networks of ties that are so important to the maintenance of a positive communal atmosphere.
In conclusion, work is the major underlying factor, among the many others, as to why American civil society is declining, but there is hope for America to fix the situation if it realizes it has a problem. This is easier said than done however. Think about it, how would someone go about trying to get Americans to participate in everyday civic life if they are only focused on going home and forgetting about their day? My answer to our problem is humanism. America: it is time you realized that you have a problem, admitting it is the first step towards recovery.
Works Cited
“Civil society.” Reference.com. 2008. Dictionary.com, LLC. 11 October 2008.
Kingsolver, Barbara. “Jabberwocky.” Pacific Seminar I: What is a Good Society? Ed. Jeffrey Becker. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. 208.
Pope John Paul II. “Centesimus Annus.” Pacific Seminar I: What is a Good Society? Ed. Jeffrey Becker. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. 157,159.
Postman, Neil. “Amusing Ourselves to Death.” Pacific Seminar I: What is a Good Society? Ed. Jeffrey Becker. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. 196, 200.
“Renaissance.” Msn.com. 2008. Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2008. 11 October 2008.
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“Robert D. Putnam.” Reference.com. 2008. Dictionary.com, LLC. 11 October 2008.
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