Since I am the only recognized “Agent of Change” in Pennsylvania… so declared by the Governor at one time… I thought I would change up this column a little bit this month and write about change. 

One of the advantages of getting old is that it gives you some level of perspective about things. I read articles in the newspaper about people being social conservatives. Often they are looked at in the media as being excessively restrictive concerning social issues like abortion, divorce, equal rights for non-protected classes and generally not wanting to be forced into changing their lives based upon changing sensibilities. It reminds me of growing up in the fifties when those attitudes and values were mainstream. 

There is a growing intolerance of living the life as I lived it in the fifties with the desire for a more secular society. That society was a white male dominated society with many of the females not entering the commercial workforce but instead being homemakers (domestic engineers). I also remember seeing racially segregated bathrooms, public water fountains and the like. It was not that long ago that life looked differently.

I am not classifying social conservatives as endorsing those values, but to a great extent those attitudes are the derivatives of an earlier time. When I consider social value shifts, I think of how the Shah of Iran was forced to flee based upon his plans for a more secular western society. People did not want to embrace western values, and wanted to control their economic destiny.   

The advent of instant communication has created problems for many societies around the world because western culture is attractive to many. In comparison, social conservatives from America are radical social liberals in those countries that still behead people, as you have a quantum leap in cultural interpretation.

In the early days of the Untied States, it took months for some to get the news of a calamity or noteworthy event. Today someone has too much to drink and gets on Twitter badmouthing someone, and everyone knows about it instantaneously. To a great extent, political correctness lives on the Internet. People become caustic and deriding to individuals in order to create a self-imposed lexicon.

Most words that are now undesirable were neutral words in the beginning. I remember the word “retarded” was an acceptable reference term. I believe it replaced the original three levels of idiot, moron and imbecile. I also remember in the ‘60s when the term usage went south a little bit and for a few years it was one of the main insults you could say to someone that was not a curse word. I think it was not officially changed until 2010.

As the language changes, so do opinions concerning social norms, what is acceptable, and what is not acceptable. Things happen much slower because you may be able to socially censor one’s form of speech, but you cannot control what people think. People living far from the media centers have been affected by outside thought through the Internet. Local folkways have a way of being examined and fault found with them by a wider audience. What I find particularly disturbing is the removal of Civil War statues. What does removing a Robert E. Lee statue have to do with changing anything? I could see things like frowning on the Stars and Bars because, as with the lexicon term “retarded,” it had taken on its own meaning.

It makes me think of Russia where people fell out of favor and all statues disappeared or where toppled by the citizenry. China just dismantled a huge Mao statue the other day because the millions spent for it did not equate properly to the people living in poverty around it. If anything, I believe these statues should remain as a reminder of another time when things were different. I am not sure what they did with that Mao statue, but I need it in my downtown.

I believe that, possibly, people want to put things behind them as social attitudes change. Improvements I have seen in my time have been extensive, including the interstate highway system that opened up some of these suburbs to the world.  In a way, it is like the influence the Internet has had on the communities that the interstate missed. 

The ability of external pressure within the country to affect local events and practices has changed the United States more than anything. Left to its own, life is what is around you and interactions that affect you. By invading that space, whether it is by people protesting someone’s funeral or by PETA protestors showing up at your free magic show on South Street, it creates a restriction that is enforced by no law.

These kinds of restrictions, in many cases, impact people’s lives however so gently or as bluntly as a punch in the nose. It has come with a new peer pressure to accept a homogenized America limiting the freedom of thought.

Barry Cassidy is a freelance grant and economic development consultant. He can be reached at barrycassidy@comcast.net.