35 – 40 – 25
One explanation for why our Culture is as it is.
Over the past 78 years I have observed the actions of several million people counting in-person observation and what others have written or said about those actions.
Since I have been a voracious1 reader all of my life, the directly-observed actions and behavior of others has been supplemented with hundreds of thousands of opinions and observations of people with myriad backgrounds, ethnicities, political viewpoints and personal biases.
Factoring in the viewpoints expressed in the Bible – the primary viewpoint being that the natural state of humanity is rebellion against God – and observing both Biblical and secular histories of man over the past 3 millennia, I have reached certain conclusions about homo sapiens2 in general and the cultural shifts that have transpired over that time.
Thesis
In any culture, in any people, in any large group, these approximate3 statistics remain about the same: 25 % are trying to obtain ruling power; 35 % are basic hard-working people trying to do what’s right for their families, friends and neighbors; the remaining 40% – all else being equal – split into 20% who go along with or condone the actions of those seeking power and 20% who side with and are more like their hard-working neighbors but without their strong standards.
These patterns have little to do with natural intelligence; but there is some correlation with the environment in which one grows and matures.
Elaboration:
POSIT: about 35 % of any population, without regard to race or ethnicity, will consist of people who generally strive to do what is “right” – meaning that they have solid standards and truly live by those standards. There is always a certain amount of planning for tomorrow – they set goals and consider the effects of their actions on family, friends and neighbors.
POSIT 2: about 25% of any population, without regard to race or ethnicity, will consist of people who generally will do anything that makes them feel good or powerful with little regard for whether they harm others or the long term effects of their behavior. Early in their lives, they begin to seek methods of controlling or “ruling” over others. Later, the desire to truly rule over others becomes the driving force in most of their actions and beliefs. They love stirring up trouble among people they consider “lesser beings” and especially with any who might criticize their life style or be obstacles to their quest for power and wealth.
POSIT 3: about 40% of any population, without regard to race or ethnicity, will consist of people who exhibit some of the characteristics of both of the previously described groups. Depending on the situation, they may change from one group to the other sometimes in a period of only a few minutes. Example: at a gathering, their behavior and conversation may change quite drastically when moving from one set of people to another set across the room.
Thus, until the last 60 years in Western Civilization, the “good guys” have had an approximate 55% majority – 35% plus one-half of the 40%.
Of course the size of that majority depended on the relative “goodness” and charisma of cultural and political leaders as well as whether their allegiance was more in line with the 35% or the 25%.
Evolution of today’s culture
Mass communication4 began with the printing press in the 1400’s, continued to develop with ever-increasing speed with newspapers in the 1700’s, the telegraph in the 1830’s, the telephone in the 1870’s, radio in the 1900’s, television in the 1930’s, communication satellites and computers in the 1960’s with the availability of the Internet to the general public coming into focus in the 1970’s and 1980’s.
With books, newspapers, television and radio providing diverse, often-conflicting or adversarial opinions, the accumulated knowledge of millennia was available to everyone who could read or listen.
Optimists saw a bright future filled with knowledge and education available for all.
However, some saw the opportunity to gradually obtain and then solidify control of this mass media; with that power, they could truly control – rule – all the rest of the world.
Unfortunately for Western Civilization, many of the latter saw the relative individual freedom of the citizens of Western Civilization as freedom for them to gain power over others.
Nowhere is this more evident – in hindsight, of course – than in the United States of America. No large government in history had ever provided as much personal freedom and access to personal wealth as the USA.
This did not sit well with the 25%! Their predecessors began denigrating “common people” and religion in the 1700’s but were often expelled from their birth countries and could only continue their efforts in the culture they most despised – Western Civilization.
Beginning in the 70’s when leftists took total control of the Democrat Party5, the 25% have gradually gained working control of media and many basic institutions of our culture with that control accelerating with each new generation.
Their egress into the education establishment from pre-school through colleges and universities gave them the ability to control the formal education of each new generation; their egress into the mass media controlled the informal education; their egress into government bureaucracy solidified their control of education.
It took them 5 decades to gain political parity by manipulating the good instincts of much of the 40% and with Covid-19 they found a way to solidify their majority to almost 60%.
This partially explains the despair and hopelessness occasionally experienced by many over the past two years. There were virtually no news sources, no information outlets and no political, institutional or spiritual leaders who could be trusted.
As we’ve personally witnessed in the past decade – exemplified by the media and bureaucratic control of all levers of power and communication – the rulers seemed to be able to do anything they wanted, any time they wanted with very few strong enough to oppose them and that opposition effectively silenced.
Is there any hope that our culture will survive this onslaught?
The hubris of the 25% and their insane social/political concepts have somewhat reversed the trend but only a prophet could foretell whether our exit later this year from the “cusp” that began in late 2019 will result in disaster or an eventual return to some semblance of previous cultural norms.
Ask me in 2023!
1 Voracious – “consuming in great quantities”2
2 Homo sapiens – literally, “wise man”; in ordinary usage, it means “human”3
3 Approximate – “close to the actual, but not completely accurate or exact”4
4 Mass communication – the ability to communicate with large groups5
