We live in the era of overt phobias that we are not born with but are the product of learned behavior. We have xenophobia: dislike of or prejudice against people from other countries. We have homophobia: dislike of or prejudice against gay people. Transphobia: dislike of or strong prejudice against transgender people. There is a host of other phobias, some marginally ridiculous and others that reflect serious problems for the individuals inflicted with a specific phobia. While not phobias, it seems that racism. bigotry, white supremacy, and other destructive learned behaviors continue to be disruptive influences on our society.
No person is born with phobias or racism, bigotry or as a white supremacist these are learned behaviors. Phobias can be learned behaviors or the product of some traumatic occurrence that instigated the phobia. white supremacy are almost Learned behaviors are predominately the product of the family environment, however, some external influences can contribute to these questionable behaviors. Young children rarely exhibit phobias or other questionable behaviors unless they have experienced some type of traumatic situation. Early in child development children are sponges that absorb a great deal from their environment which is not necessarily instructional but greatly impacts their lives. Hearing, watching and experiencing questionable behavior does not register as being bad to children for years and before they know it, they are mimicking the behaviors they have witnessed during their most important developmental stage of their lives.
It continues to be very disheartening to see so many people truly hate other people for who they are or want to be. The growing belief that a minority of the population can impose their beliefs, morals and philosophy on most of the population is very troubling. The notion, for example, that white supremacy can dominate a society which is becoming more ethnically diverse is ludicrous, yet that notion persists, and many unsavory politicians manipulate a large segment of the population into believing somehow the reality of a return to white domination and non-white subjugation is possible. The Ku Klux Klan (KKK) was a dominate fixture throughout the U.S. but most prominently in many southern states and while being overt in their actions, they hid their identity behind hoods and white sheets. The KKK reflected a minority viewpoint in the country but dominated race relations for many years. While there has not specifically been a resurgence in the KKK, white supremacy has gained standing in our society.
Throughout most of the 20th century in the U.S. being a homosexual often required the individual to hide who they were, be closeted, to escape the scorn of their family, friends and most of society. It wasn’t until the 1960s before the more bold and vocal members of the homosexual community publicly displayed their sexual orientation in a more overt manor throughout the country, although initially in the larger urban areas where there was greater acceptance of alternative lifestyles. For several decades most of country saw gay rights expand, including gay marriage, and only recently has there been a growing backlash against the gay community. Again, it is opportunistic and manipulative politicians that are pressing this issue for political gain among a conservative minority of the population, including a large portion of the evangelical Christians throughout this country. Playing on the fears and emotions of people to attain political power is a despicable outcome of our current corrupt and dysfunctional political process.
It’s hard to imagine that we made societal progress during the latter half of the 20th century only to have unscrupulous politicians start to turn back those gains in what the majority sees as a betterment of our society to allow individuals to live their lives as they want without interference from government and a minority of the population. Because politicians are having difficulty articulating policy positions and legislatives proposals that reflect the needs and wants of the majority they play on emotions of voters and use theatrics as a political strategy. The politicians are often beholden to a small number of campaign contributors who want something quite different than most of the population, so they often rely on emotionally baiting the voters. Playing on the emotions of the voters, often creating divisions among voters, has become the most dominant strategy in political campaigns.
The course correction requires politicians to stop promoting the dividing of voters into warring factions and begin campaigning on what specifically they will do for the betterment of society that will allow the formation of a more perfect union as noted in the constitution. Relying on the better nature of our current crop of political leaders to do what is right is asking a great deal given that they most often do what is wrong or what is right only for a very small portion of the population. It is important to not forget that the voters elect these politicians and that their role in this mess cannot be overlooked as the ones that keep electing and then reelecting poor quality individuals to represent and protect their interests in the operation of governing the country.
