Chuck Norris On Cultural Wars

12/25/2019: Chuck Norris wrote an article picked up by WND, and I wish to analyze and comment on Norris's article, and I shall post my review of his article back on his email site.

The article, posted by Norris on 12/23/19 was: "Does this subtle culture war threaten our very republic?

Below that is written: "Exclusive: Chuck Norris advocates for real Christmas presence among families this year"

Let me quickly and generally answer his title question. Yes, the smart phone addiction that has converted children, family members and even friends into isolated introverts only communicate through cyberspace, as each is delimited in her solipsistic isolation, and, indirectly, this subtle or not-so-subtle cultural war may well threaten our public. An alienated, anomic population, disorganized, losing its ability to socialize, communicate, interact, cope, cooperate and operate as a social unit, is a population at risk. When the people are anomic, and unable to function socially, economically, communally or economically, they are evincing a moral breakdown. A generation raised without virtue will be the last generation to enjoy or preserve the values and legal machinery that a virtuous good citizenry must perpetuate and follow, ordered liberty under the rule of law, that keeps our constitutional republic humming along. No private virtue, no public virtue, no virtuous citizenry, so the nation declines into bad anarchy and strong-man rule.

Virtuous citizens will not allow the dissolution of the civic society under which accepted cultural standards are degraded and smashed, and the people are without something to believe in, and hold onto, greater than themselves.

 Excessive smart phone usage among children renders them unable to write cursive, write paragraphs to do simple arithmetic in their heads, let alone have read enough and dialogued enough to communicate their feelings, ideas, preferences and value systems in articulate, clear, coherent concise language.

Chuck worries that all this electronic gadgetry is stifling our family and social settings, and it may wreck the entire country. Right on, Chuck.

Let me quote Chuck on the pros and cons of the Internet:

"A UCLA professor named Leonard Kleinrock developed much of the theoretical groundwork for that first digital network and forerunner to the internet. The one thing Kleinrock says he never saw coming was the rise of social media and social networks. He told Fast Company's Mark Sullivan that this is where many of the internet's (and hence, humans') biggest problems have surfaced and gathered strength. Kleinrock believes that the inherent fault of social spaces is users' anonymity and lack of accountability.

On a positive note, Kurtzberg points out how technology allows colleagues to work together from afar, friends to keep in touch without restraint and grandparents to touch base with grandkids; it's just a matter of finding that ever-elusive balance as to how and when we use our technological devices."

Norris seems to agree with his experts that the Internet and smart phones are useful and helpful in keeping people in touch with each other at a distance, but is harmful in the cruelty expressed under the cover of anonymity and the lack of accountability. So far, so good. Chuck wants us to find that happy medium where, when and how we use our ubiquitous  phones, and then set them aside for interpersonal time.

 Norris quotes from Forbes that we use our smartphones for everything and rely on them so much that we are addicted to them.

 Let me quote Norris quoting from Forbes:

"Forbes added this clear and present danger: "The scariest part about smartphone addiction is that it can affect our physical and mental health, our relationships and our productivity. America's obsession with smartphones has even been compared to the obesity epidemic. That's because, just like drug or gambling addictions, smartphones provide an escape from reality."
"At the same time, having access to a constant flow of information has all but destroyed attention spans: a few years ago, a widely publicized study proved goldfish can focus longer than we can. This increase in ADD-like symptoms has been linked to the overuse of smartphones."
Compounded with what psychologists call "our susceptibility to distraction" and "being wired for negativity," smartphones and social media in human hands were a ticking time-bomb waiting to explode. But like a nuclear test underground in a far-off desert, most blew up in our lives without us even noticing."

Let me quote from Norris further: "It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that interacting via screens is markedly different from face-to-face interactions. But this distance and anonymity is where the danger lurks. Multiple studies show that people lie more, are more negative and are less cooperative when they use digital means of communicating. This clearly can have a toll on the mental health of those who come under attack. It also creates an overall shallowness of engagement people have with those around them – enhanced by the fact that the average American touches their smartphone some 2,600 times a day. It creates a sea of people around us who are present, but not really there."

I did not know that Chuck was a conservative intellectual that has written extensively on our red-hot cultural wars.

He concludes his article with a Christmas blessing and urges all readers to enjoy this Christmas with a "smartphone" sabbatical, so that each family member is 100% present to interact loving with other family members and to commune with God on a deep, personal level.

All I remark is that I agree and applaud Chuck for a balanced criticism of our addiction to electronic tools.

With my interest in self-actualization as God's calling for each person, it would be fun to speculate about to what degree one relies on one's natural gifts to live and develop, and to what degree reliance on smartphones must continue. To find the right balance is tricky and an every moving target, but the balance must be found and maintained.