Americans battle with a lack of fulfillment, and a lack of trust in each other. | Opinion
What’s going on with the land of the free and the home of the brave these days?
I spotted a news item recently reporting that for the first time this year, the U.S. does not appear in the top 20 countries on the World Happiness Report. That same day I was gobsmacked to read dozens of posts from college faculty members in the midst of exams who were variously frustrated, amazed and saddened by their need to deal with plagiarism and other forms of academic dishonesty.
Some readers will recall a time when students took exams in “Blue books” – a three-hour history test would probably have taken multiple books. At one of the institutions that I attended, the cover of these books included a pledge that the student had neither given nor received aid on the exam, with a line for their signature.
Twenty years ago, the internet and the World Wide Web were just coming into being. Today, artificial intelligence is seemingly taking over the world. Since my wife teaches computer science at an area college, I have watched this transformation with amazement. Like all of us, I have no idea how the future will unfold.
With such incredibly rapid change, is it any wonder that our media are filled with stories of people who are depressed, lonely and confused about the path of their lives? And what about politics? Can anyone discern the truth? Indeed, Is there such a thing any longer as “truth?” Our struggle with these issues seems to have crippled our souls.
The clouds hanging over us inevitably affect our mindsets as individuals. Social scientists say that our sense of belonging, so essential to creating the sense of community that boosts our mental health in a fractured world, is eroding. The Prayer of St. Francis, although we seldom encounter it outside of a house of worship, reminds us that it is best to put our concerns for others ahead of our regard for self.
Instead, too often today we adopt a slogan similar to one I learned in the U. S. Army’s chow line, “The heck with you, Jack; I got mine.”
Although the temperature has been up to 90 degrees lately, this dilemma calls to mind the Marley’s Ghost section at the beginning of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol.” After Ebenezer Scrooge leaves his office – where he has rudely turned away some gentlemen collecting for charity – he retires for the night.
As you may remember, Scrooge’s slumbers are disturbed by the spirit of Jacob Marley, Scrooge’s deceased partner, dragging a large, heavy chain up the staircase. As he does so he shouts out “This is the chain I forged in life.” He explains that it is required of every soul to walk among their fellows. If that spirit does not do so in life, it is condemned to do so after death, witnessing the joys it can no longer share, he says.
By the end of the story, Scrooge realizes that he is being given a second chance. Bob Cratchit’s family, although severely impoverished, experiences enormous joy, and Scrooge realizes that his wealth would enable him to transform their lives — and in doing so, most importantly, transform his own.
In our culture today, those of us who have sufficient income, an education and access to medical care walk among our fellows (and, like Scrooge and Marley, often attempt to avoid many of them). Many of us, at church, school and the workplace, learn that our friends are less than fulfilled.
If we now live in a time when students at our country’s finest colleges apparently cannot be trusted to observe the basic rules of honesty, what does this say about the integrity of our nation? Perhaps St. Francis, back in the 12th century, had thoughts on this subject. Perhaps Charles Dickens did as well.
In the face of the technological miracles of modern life, St. Francis reminds us that it is in giving that we receive, That too is the lesson that Scrooge learns. Can America in 2024 learn from these voices from the past? Could it be that in caring for our fellows we will find our joy?
Larry Fennelly is an opinion columnist for The Telegraph and can be reached at larney_f@hotmail.com.
This story was originally published May 22, 2024 at 5:00 AM.