E Pluribus Unum

Sept. 25, 2015

The Great Seal of the United States contains only three words: E Pluribus Unum: from many, one. It was a brilliant use of language. At the base it represented the coming together of several independent states to create one nation. But it went deeper. In Europe countries were small; they had unique languages and cultures. Throughout Europe’s history, there have been constant wars between these independent nations and people. The United States brought together a range of people from a wide geographical area with varying interests and needs who said, “We are one.” We will share one basic government but we will be free to live the way that works best in our local area. Those vastly different groups were united by the understanding that our regional and even individual differences should not influence the way we approach each other. We were Americans.

If you are like me and grew up thinking we were one people, you might be confused if you read the newspaper or watch television news. Now it seems like the press has divided up the country into groups, and has decided by group who is in favor and who is to be suspected. It can get difficult to understand these seemingly arbitrary designations that are more about what people look like and how they socialize, and not based on what they really do. It’s not exactly clear when this happened, but it could have been an evolution of the 24-hour news cycle. Faced with needing to fill 1,440 minutes of content each day, networks found that there just isn’t that much going on. They couldn’t keep people interested. Networks turned to the sports model and morphed everything into competition with two sides. If someone offers an idea or opinion, the news media start by finding someone who opposes that idea in an attempt to create an interesting conflict, sometimes where there is none at all. Over time, everything became a contest. You had to pick a team. If you are confused by this balkanization, I offer this guide.

A Handy Guide to Contemporary Media Division

We’ll start with the basics. The larger the group the more efficient it is to stereotype them. Men are bad, and women are good. Christians are oppressive; muslims are peaceful. Jewish people are not quite as clear. They are good if they want to carve up Israel, and bad if the want Israel to defend itself. Buddhists are beyond reproach. Fat people are the heart of all sorts of problems and the trim can do no wrong. But there are confusions. Fat women are okay, specifically comedians or outspoken lesbians.

Race is pretty easy to understand, too. In the press, whites are generally bad, unless they wish they weren’t white and feel bad about it. Blacks are generally good, though not specifically “African Americans,” because you could be an immigrant from Senegal and as long as you have traditional black appearance you are okay. Except black Republicans, especially outspoken black Republicans, who are not only bad, they should be mocked and ridiculed.

Police, of course, are bad to the media. The military, like police, are bad as well (women in the military, however, are good.) Generally speaking, criminals are just victims of their circumstances. Except white criminals, who are specifically evil if they own a gun. It is extremely difficult for a black male to create criminal outrage. The press often doesn’t notice when a black man kills his black neighbor. Gun owners are generally bad, and the press is pretty color blind on this. Even legally owning a gun can cast doubt on someone. Anyone against guns is A-OK. It’s even acceptable to own guns and have armed guards if you want to ban everyone else from having guns. See Michael Bloomberg and Rosie O’Donnell.

In our media culture, wealthy people are subjected to great suspicion. They probably hurt someone or did something bad to get rich. People who don’t work are always in that circumstance because of outside forces. It’s never because they are lazy. But even here, there are exceptions. Extremely wealthy people are okay if they are Democrats, especially movie stars or politicians who made most of their wealth while in office. In general the successful in any field are bad, and failures are good people who just got a bad break. But failures who were once successful are very bad and should be laughed at. Successful athletes and Warren Buffet are okay. And the Kardashians and Paris Hilton are so without talent or earned success, they are cultural icons.

Americans, those of us born here, are bad, and the more generations our families go back the worse we are. Until you get to Native American Indians, who go way, way back and are very, very good. Illegal aliens are just fine (see criminals, above) and their children born here are good.

Enough. All of this ignores individual behavior and free will. It’s a smoke screen. If you can see through the divisiveness of the fabricated tribalism, do what I do. Reject stereotypes that arbitrarily divide us. Think of us as Americans. Judge only individuals, cautiously, based on what they actually do.

Thomas Kachadurian is a photographer, designer and author. He lives on Old Mission with his wife and two children. He is a member and past president of the Traverse Area District Library Board of Trustees.