Many Americans — ranging from observant, clear-headed liberals like me to the great mass of deluded and delusional conservatives — think society has gone off the rails.
And, by and large, it has. People may disagree about the causes, but the country is not becoming better, stronger, more noble, and more admirable over time. As a society, we are becoming weaker, more lackluster, more uninspiring, more… flaccid.
The further we get from America’s “Greatest Generation” of the World War II era, the poorer we look in comparison.
Yes, I do have an opinion about how we got to this point, thanks for asking.
I believe it happened because we got lazy and soft. I think we abandoned, one after the other, many of the fundamental values that shaped us in the first place.
This subject was brought to mind last week when I read a series of writings by Luther Standing Bear (1868-1939), a chief of the Lakota/Oglala Sioux in South Dakota. Standing Bear was quite influential nationally in his day.
As waves of European settlers arrived on the continent, Standing Bear wrote often about the wisdom and beliefs of Native American society and the importance of preserving that rapidly-disappearing culture.
The positive values he celebrated apply, of course, to all societies. That’s why Standing Bear’s writings are taught today in college courses in literature, history, and philosophy.
Judge for yourself — and please note that Standing Bear expressed himself in English better than most of the American population today.
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Silence was meaningful with the Lakota, and his granting a space of silence before talking was done in the practice of true politeness and regardful of the rule that ‘thought comes before speech.’
His strict observance of this tenet of good behavior was the reason, no doubt, for his being given the false characterization by the white man of being a stoic. He has been judged to be dumb, stupid, indifferent, and unfeeling.
As a matter of fact, he was the most sympathetic of men, but his emotions of depth and sincerity were tempered with control. Silence meant to the Lakota what it meant to Disraeli when he said, ‘Silence is the mother of truth,’ for the silent man was ever to be trusted, while the man ever ready with speech was never taken seriously.
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Praise, flattery, exaggerated manners and fine, high-sounding words were no part of Lakota politeness. Excessive manners were put down as insincere, and the constant talker was considered rude and thoughtless. Conversation was never begun at once, or in a hurried manner.
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Children were taught that true politeness was to be defined in actions rather than in words. They were never allowed to pass between the fire and the older person or a visitor, to speak while others were speaking, or to make fun of a crippled or disfigured person. If a child thoughtlessly tried to do so, a parent, in a quiet voice, immediately set him right.
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We did not think of the great open plains, the beautiful rolling hills, the winding streams with tangled growth, as ‘wild.’ Only to the white man was nature a ‘wilderness,’ and only to him was it ‘infested’ with ‘wild’ animals and ‘savage’ people. To us it was tame. Earth was bountiful and we were surrounded with the blessings of the Great Mystery.
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Kinship with all creatures of the earth, sky and water was a real and active principle. In the animal and bird world there existed a brotherly feeling that kept the Lakota safe among them.
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Expressions such as ‘excuse me,’ ‘pardon me,’ and ‘so sorry,’ now so often lightly and unnecessarily used, are not in the Lakota language. If one chanced to injure or cause inconvenience to another, the word ‘wanunhecun’ –or ‘mistake’ — was spoken. This was sufficient to indicate that no discourtesy was intended and that what had happened was accidental.
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It was good for the skin to touch the earth, and the old people liked to remove their moccasins and walk with bare feet on the sacred earth. Their tipis were built upon the earth and their alters were made of earth, and it was the final abiding place of all things that lived and grew.
This is why the old Indian still sits upon the earth instead of propping himself up and away from its life-giving forces. For him, to sit or lie upon the ground is to be able to think more deeply and to feel more keenly. He can see more clearly into the mysteries of life and come closer in kinship to other lives about him.
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Everything was possessed of personality, only differing from us in form. Knowledge was inherent in all things. The world was a library and its books were the stones, leaves, grass, brooks, and the birds and animals that shared, alike with us, the storms and blessings of earth. We learned to do what only the student of nature learns, and that was to feel beauty.
We never railed at the storms, the furious winds, and the biting frosts and snows. To do so intensified human futility, so whatever came we adjusted ourselves, by more effort and energy if necessary, but without complaint.
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The old Lakota was wise. He knew that a man’s heart, away from nature, becomes hard; he knew that lack of respect for growing, living things soon led to lack of respect for humans, too. So he kept his children close to nature’s softening influence.
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‘Civilization’ has been thrust upon me since the days of the reservations, and it has not added one whit to my sense of justice, to my reverence for the rights of life, to my love for truth, honesty, and generosity, or to my faith in Wakan Tanka, God of the Lakotas.
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You could make a strong case that the first Americans were the best Americans. At the very least, examples like Standing Bear are models we should emulate.
Luther Standing Bear (Lakota name “Ota Kte” or “Plenty Kill”), son of George Standing Bear and Pretty Face.
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