I'm Awfully Tired of Raking Up Your Underwear

Why is it we inherently feel more informed, more rounded and better contextualized than our parents and grandparents regarding world views? This generationalcentrism, while condescending, may seem valid considering the social and political issues that plagued the first half of the 20th century. I, like most of you have a great deal of respect for the trials and tribulations our elders endured. World War I, the great depression, World War II, the civil rights movement, Vietnam, the absence of Play Station 3...etc. You get the point.

Attempts to romanticize history conjures up images of black and white parties in a much more formal and civil time. How many times have you heard "They don't make them like they used to." "They don't write (fill in the blank - books, movies, plays) like they did in my day." "Kids today and their music!" "We didn't act like that when we were young." All these comments are forms of generationalcentrism. It doesn't just come from GenY or GenX. Each generation believes their generation was the gold standard. My question is, do things really change that much from generation to generation?

Certainly, as a society we've made tremendous strides in specific areas such as civil rights. However, there are a number of divisive issues in which we tout great change, but have yet to see any meaningful movement. There are two key issues here, the first is why do we feel this social change if there is very little and secondly are you really that much more enlightened than the generations that preceded you if little change is seen? In other words your generationalcentrism is built on a foundation as faulty as the San Adreas.

Let's start with Americans views on drinking alcohol. According to Gallup, 67% of Americans today consume alcohol and 33% abstain completely. What is your best guess as to how these numbers would come out in 1945? Interestingly enough, while Truman dropped successive bombs on Japan in 1945, 67% of Americans drank while 37% abstained. Ok you say, one coincidence is an anomaly, maybe two is a trend - show me more.

Views of capital punishment must have changed since our war-tested grandparents day, right? In 1937, 59% of Americans favored capital punishment. Surely less Americans favor the brutality of the death penalty today, right? In 2010 65% of Americans are in favor of capital punishment, slightly more than the two generations before us.

Let's get a little more controversial. The feminist movement has seemingly taken hold over the past 4 decades giving women more choice and equality. Or has it? The percentage of Americans who believe abortion should be illegal under any circumstance in 1978 was 19%. These views had to of changed in the past 30 years. Even some right wing pundits favor giving women the choice. In 2010, 19% of Americans believe abortion should be illegal in all circumstances - the exact same number. Moreover, 55% favored abortion under certain circumstances in 1978. Today, 54% favor abortion under certain circumstances. The trend should be as obvious as Joaquin Phoenix's probability of a hip hop career (could Letterman have handled that interview any better? hilarious).

In 1966, 66% of American's didn't feel safe walking at night within one mile of their home. In 2010, exactly 66% of American's didn't feel safe walking within one mile of their home at night. In 1982, 44% of Americans believed God created humans in their present form. In 2010, 44% believe God created humans in their present form. 58% of Americans said religion is important in my day to day life in 1992. In 2010, 56% of Americans say religion is important in day to day life.

Here is another controversial issue in which we perceive and celebrate great strides; gay marriage. In 1978, 43% of Americans said gay couples should not be able to wed legally. Again, guess what this number looks like today? In 2010, 36% believe gay marriage should be illegal which is a relatively small change considering the enormous gay pride movement that has taken place.

Some of the social issues that have changed are counterintuitive to what I would have guessed. For example, in 1985, 28% of Americans gave priority to economic growth over the environment while 61% gave the environment priority over economic growth. Ok, that sounds about right, but which way would you expect this to go in the more enlightened, more "green" 21st century? Today a whopping 50% of Americans give priority to economic growth over the environment while only 48% give the environment priority over the economy.

You think you're more enlightened than your grandparents, you're not. You think you're more progressive than your parents, you aren't. Fact is, we've seen very little change in most of these social issues. Why are our perceptions so far from reality?

In my opinion it has something to do with what Malcomb Gladwell calls "the law of the few." In today's society, we have a small group of influencers. This group, whom I consider to be the mass media and Hollywood, promote their ideas which are not congruent with the general public. The ideas are subsequently publicized by these powerful groups which causes the perceptions to begin to feel like realities when in actuality they are far from it.

So does this have an effect on public policy? You bet it does. For the first time in history, more Americans believe it is NOT the governments responsibility to provide healthcare (50%) than people who do believe it is the governments responsibility (47%). So why was there such a push for socialized healthcare in 2010? Is it possible the "influencers" were able to supplant a false reality in our subconscious? There is another leading theory called "the loudest voice syndrome." It works on both sides of the political isle (see Townhouse meetings). If you were to sit down for an interview and were given a viewpoint to which you disagreed, you'd tell the interviewer "I disagree." However, if you were in a 10 person focus group with a loud, intimidating and persuasive individual who agreed, you likely wouldn't share your opinion or at least your honest opinion. Do the influencers have the loudest voice over the public in shaping our policies? What happened to "a government by the people, for the people?"

I stumbled across the comic (above) as my lovely wife asked if I could start hanging my dress pants and dress shirts from work on a more consistent basis. She may have just as well said "I'm getting awfully tired of raking up your underwear," because apparently, things just don't change that much.