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Where Have Normalcy And Decency Gone?

To The Reader’s Forum:

Where have normalcy and decency gone? Obviously, healthwise, Coronavirus/COVID-19 has significantly interrupted normalcy. It has been over 100 years since the last pandemic hit America. Fighting a “novel” disease should bring Americans together inasmuch as it’s really no different than other “natural” disasters, or wars, yet, the normalcy of crisis unity is hard to find with Coronavirus.

Political normalcy has also been, at least, interrupted, too. Sure, politics creates philosophical “enemies”, but the government, the glue of American democracy, has provided for a normal transition of power; that is until what I will opine as the “Trump era”. His purely “business” background is abnormal in American politics — government is not a business. Trump is also the first “narcissistic” person to obtain the presidency — his words were “No one knows the system better than me, which is why I alone can fix it.” However, there is no “I” in government. America entered uncharted territory.

At this juncture decency also seems to have left the room. Perhaps you recall “birtherism” and Obama, Trump name-calling of Republican presidential candidates and eventually Hillary Clinton. Trump still uses name-calling of both foreign and domestic leaders who disagree with him. His fact-checked lies and misinformation have been overwhelming since his inauguration. I could go on with both political normalcy and decency abnormalities and absences, but historians will handle that.

My point is that I see the “divide” in America is based primarily on the lack of normalcy and decency — that divide has become a new “normal”, hopefully only temporarily though.

There is division on the response to coronavirus when we should be working together. That’s where truthful and compassionate national leadership is missing. It matters not where coronavirus came from — it’s here! Americans can’t agree on how to mitigate Coronavirus until a long-term vaccination is found. Americans can’t agree on matters of social justice – it’s not either/or folks! People are said to “hate America” or called “socialists” or “hate God”, or are labeled “stupid” or “idiots” because they differ on how to improve America — right or left.

This division will only be rectified when normalcy and decency are restored to the psyche of Americans. It will likely take this election, maybe more, to get America to understand we’re all in “this” together. Disagreement is inevitable — it’s called “democracy”, but first we must decide that normalcy and decency is the way forward.

Paul L. Demler

Jamestown

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