Clare: Extending neighborly kindness

Our best option, we now imagine, is to save ourselves and those like us on the basis of a lifeboat ethics that rewards ruthlessness.

from Nicolaus Mills, The Triumph of Meanness

As I read Mills book on meanness, I wonder if we really have become a mean society. Today, I helped shovel snow from two sidewalks and porches.

Then I shoveled a space at the bus stop near us so people wont have to stand in the street. It was cold; my nose was running and my fingers were moving from pain to numbness by the time I was finished.

I have seen others in Norwood do the same in their neighborhoods, and have seen people clear snow from fire hydrants and storm drains. I know of people offering to help others clear snow all over town. Surely, the above quote isnt about our one-on-one social behavior; its clear to me that a reasonable number of us are simply not mean at a personal level.

Then, I think about the occasional email I get from some acquaintance or other, wittily lambasting the unemployed, the overweight, or those needing food stamps. I remember the glib bumper stickers shouting disrespect for our elected leaders or a hatred of immigrants.

And it is not just aimed at people unlike the perpetrator. Often as not, the owner of that bumper sticker could lose a few pounds, and most of us descend from immigrant ancestors.

I do not know when cleverness became an acceptable substitute for civility, but Im embarrassed to find Ive been tolerating it without awareness.

Accusations and condemnations we aim at segments of our society usually lack reason. They intend to shock, entertain, and/or insult. Were really better than this. I know because I see it in my town on snowy days.

Perhaps we should consider not always exercising our individual right to free speech when that talk hurts or misrepresents.

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Clare: Extending neighborly kindness