I buckled to peer pressure and watch the Super Bowl for the first time since the kneeling started in the NFL. Aside from the Black National Anthem and the weird washing the feet ad, I did enjoy the game. Jason Whitlock complained that the game was dull but I liked a defensive struggle and I liked the fact that both teams ran the ball quite a bit.
But one event really bothered me. After a Kansas City fumble Chiefs player Travis Kelce got into the face of his coach Andy Reid and gave him a good shove, nearly causing Reid to lose his balance. It got noticed on social media and there were comments warning his girlfriend Taylor Swift that Kelce’s rageful outburst was a giant red flag. But it received little else and there were apparently no consequences for Kelce.
There a plenty of things to cause deep concern about the state of American society right now and its trajectory. The recent bubble up of antisemitism on college campuses. Lawlessness in our cities. The decline of race relations. The list seems to go on and on. But Kelce’s behavior on a national stage was symbolic of the utter collapse of civil society. It will revolve out of the news cycle quickly but I thought the Kelce bump was rather a big deal. I know that the power relationship between players and coaches has changed over the decades (players often make more money) but Reid is a putative authority figure. Whatever Kelce’s relative value to his team, Reid is in charge of running the show. Millions of kids were watching. Kelce’s behavior is being modeled and kids are observant and take notes. When they see there were no consequences, they see that this behavior is permissible.
Last year, a youth wrestler sucker punched an opponent here in Oak Park. There have been numerous instances of youth and high school officials being assaulted or abused. The situation has gotten so out of hand that critical shortages of officials are forcing some states like Illinois to change schedules and double up on games so they can get coverage.
But the abhorrent behavior goes well beyond sports.
The number of attacks on police have grown exponentially. Just yesterday, there were three officers shot in D.C. A couple of weeks ago a pack of illegals were seen assaulting police officers in New York (NY DA Alvin Bragg released them without bail). During the George Floyd riots, Chicago police officers were dragged through the streets like some third world country. Also in Chicago, the accomplice to the murderer of Chicago police officer Ella French got a plea deal. In Kenosha, police shot and wounded Jacob Blake, setting off riots in that town. Blake had digitally raped a woman, would not heed police commands to stop and then got into his car and lunged for a weapon when he was shot. Vice President Kamala Harris hopped on a plane to visit Blake in the hospital to tell him “she was proud of him.” These attacks are a direct attack on authority and represent the worst of our society. If you can attack an armed officer with impunity and with little risk of consequences, there is no real deterrent for anything else. And our leaders not only look the other way, but sometimes send signals that it’s ok.
We have seen numerous scary fights and disturbances on airplanes. Nothing quite like a fistfight at 35,000 feet in the aisle across from you to ruin your vacation travel. The harassment of a Delta agent by a transgender passenger over the agent’s supposed use of an incorrect pronoun recently went viral (and the agent was applauded on social media for standing up to him). We see often some person that is unhappy that a fast food or convenience store worker got their order wrong throw a complete two year old tantrum, throwing things around the store, dumping shelves, trashing the place and sometimes engaging in physical violence against the person behind the counter. Total melees have been seen at Walmart, McDonalds and The Waffle House. These are now everyday occurrences.
Just as I am writing this, I see that Moms for Liberty posted a clip of a big brawl in a school, noting “Americans do not see a fraction of the violence happening in our public schools. Restorative justice means no discipline, just chaos.” Here in Chicago, someone posted a clip of a brawl in front of Lincoln Park High School between two parents.
Violent behavior now is not limited to lower class thugs. We saw actor Will Smith leap out of his chair to punch Chris Rock when Rock made a joke that offended Smith. Both of Michael Jordan’s sons have been arrested after getting into physical altercations with the police. You don’t get more privileged than being Michael Jordan’s child. Will Smith and the Jordan boys are bathed in millions. No mere street thugs are they. Yet, they very publicly displayed an inability to contain their base instincts.
The uncivilized behavior is everywhere and anywhere, and is particularly noticeably aimed at authority figures, such as Andy Reid and the police, with little or no consequences.
It seems like over the past decade, our behavior inhibitors have become disabled, and we are reverting to our primal selves. Why is that? The erosion of religion? The adoption of the Woke oppression/oppressed neo-Marxist social model? The erosion of the family? The elimination of consequences for these things? Neither Will Smith or Travis Kelce suffered any real repercussions as a result of their outbursts. Perhaps we should realize that “Diversity is Our Strength” is an empty platitude, while we should be seeking social cohesion and courteous, civilized behavior instead.