Anomie

According to Wikipedia, anomie is a condition in which society provides little moral guidance to individuals.  It is the breakdown of social bonds between an individual and the community, and the fragmentation of social identity and rejection of self-regulatory values.

Jean Paul Azzopardi in America’s Overdose of Anomie, Medium 1/10/2017 writes that “anomie is a condition of instability resulting from a breakdown of standards and values from a lack of purpose or ideals,” Encyclopedia Britannica.  He continues, “American society is in a permanent state of anomie in which competitive individualism and weak social institutions lead many Americans to actively resist institutional controls.”

I believe that the extremes of the religious right and the white supremacy movement are attempts to relieve the anomie they are feeling in current day America.  They are trying to impose their beliefs on our entire multicultural country  in order to feel secure.  Others are seeking views and groups that confirm the way they think things should be which is resulting in tribalism.  We need to find common ground.

Growing up in the mid-20th century America provided me and my age-mates with a bright and predictable future.  Graduate high school, get a respectable job and live the American Dream of a simple home in a safe community.  As good paying jobs for the bottom 100 million have become scarce, an uncertain future has become a reality for what use to be the core and strength of America, the working class which was once known as the middle class.

Anomie can result in a positive reboot or an unsolvable decline.  Some say that the election of Donald Trump is the result of anomie in the United States.  For me, and I hope many others, the current Presidency has focused our attention on this anomie and will inspire us to break out of our apathy and vote responsibly.

THE UNITED STATES IS IN A STATE OF ANOMIE.  THE POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE OUTCOME IS UP TO YOU!