It seems to me that the number of defiant signs and posters around the highways and elsewhere has greatly increased in recent years. What bothers me about these beyond their simple negativity is what they say about our current American culture. Back bumper signs like “Move Over” and “Eat My Dust”, along with the many different kinds of Trump signs and posters carry with them a negative defiant tone. They act as a “chip on the shoulder” remark to those at whom they are aimed. I have even seen a few “Fuck Biden” stickers, but no Trump parallels.

            I realize that I grew up in a different era, and such signs were not really seen until recent years across our nation. Nonetheless, their prevalence in recent decades signals a subtle but serious change in the American culture that I find disturbing. Not only is this sort of “put down” almost never seen in most other countries, but it represents the lowest form of cultural pride one can express. I have traveled a lot around the world and I have never seen anything like this sort of expression of arrogance anywhere else in the world.

            Granted, we folks living in the great Western states have always been a bit more brash than both our Eastern counterparts and those folks living abroad. We love our freedom of space and youthful history, and rightfully so, but this is not a reason to belittle and/or denigrate other people. Being proud of our region and/or sports teams, etc. is quite a different thing from putting other folks down along the way. Good sportsmanship and fair play always out weigh bragging and trashing others.

            So often these days political rallies and sporting events are debased by some sort of attack on those with whom we disagree. It seems pretty obvious that these banners, etc. are by and large if not exclusively waved by Trump supporters.

What I am here mostly interested is how the cultural climate various from East to West and North to South, as well as from my childhood up to the 1950s and the last ten years or so. We need to seek and emphasize our commonalities and play down our differences.

            One way to help overcome the rift between these varying sorts of serious differences is for all of us to focus more on what we as a nation have had in common from the beginning up until recently. We can focus on the needs of the Third World, our own disadvantaged neighbors, and the threat of climate change. Such things require focus and effort on everyone’s part. The victories won by our favorite sports teams and the armed forces of the West in World War Two all resulted from our decisions to put our differences aside and work together.

            Currently we continue to face the challenges of racism, sexism, and hate in our society and it is time we grew up and worked on such issues together rather than wasting our time expressing our frustrations through small, mean, and selfish criticisms of those who differ from us. On a different note, I must say that over the years I have noticed a definite increase in opposing teams gather together after the game, shaking hands and even laughing and hugging. I for one would like to see more of this sort of spirit and togetherness and less of the “Me/Us first” attitude. We can build and grow on the former but not on the latter.