Is America Coarser?
But Lambert’s performance provides Noonan an opportunity to wonder aloud, like many people past middle age who view the past oh-so-nostalgically, whether we are a less civil populace than we used to be:
I’d like to see a poll on this. Yes or no: Have we become a more vulgar country? Are we coarser than, say, 50 years ago? Do we talk more about sensitivity and treat others less sensitively? Do you think standards of public behavior are rising or falling? Is there something called the American Character, and do you think it has, the past half-century, improved or degenerated? If the latter, what are the implications of this? Do you sense, as you look around you, that each year we have less or more of the glue that holds a great nation together? Is there less courtesy in America now than when you were a child, or more? Bonus question: Is “Excuse me” a request or a command?
Let’s be honest: America has always been a coarse country. We’ve had occasional spells of apparent politeness (like the 50s and early 60s) that many on the Right portray as The Way Things Used to Be in America but even then our nation roiled underneath that patina of civility with race-, gender- and class-based struggles. When everyone remains in his or her proper place, America is just the best country ever, isn’t it?
Whenever America enters an era in which we wonder why we’re in decline we tend to cast about for scapegoats. Adam Lambert is merely the latest. Shouldn’t we instead focus on what would really put the nation on the right track? Shouldn’t we poll for that instead? I suspect we’d find the answers would be things like education, health care, affordable housing, jobs, etc. — all the things obstructionist Republicans are unwilling to pay for. It’s always easier to blame the gays.
