The Nervous Breakdown of Authority in America

Heckling at a State of the Union address, teachers quitting in droves because confused parents and students are executing hostile takeovers in the classroom, expertise replaced by uninformed opinion, and conspiracy theories dominating the public discourse — all are traceable to some pivotal historical events.

It is impossible to mark a moment or single incident that began the erosion of trust in our major institutions such as government, science, medicine, education, etc. It is informative, however, to consider events and trends that have emerged over the last 60 years that contributed to a landslide of doubt among the populous.

Pre-Boomers, the so-called “Silent Generation”, will tell you that those entrusted with governing were once seen as public servants who mostly wanted to meet the needs of their communities. In the same era, physicians were considered gods. Their authority was rarely questioned. Educators had special knowledge too and were presumed to be truth-tellers. Those days are gone, and we are left with a mixed bag of the benefits of independent thinking at the expense of the comfort and societal stability once derived from authority figures. We find ourselves in a new frontier, a wild west of discontent.

Before the 1960s or ’70s, the nation could get big things done because our leaders had the enormous power of “expert” status, and they could remove any obstacles in their way. Politicians were accepted as legitimate. Institutions were trusted more. While the efforts of our leaders were sometimes met with resistance, it was usually too little and too late. With today’s accelerated news cycles and social media ballyhoo, widespread resistance can start before an initiative gets off the ground — literally. Before the engines fired up to launch our famously frivolous billionaires into space, the outrage machine ignited. “People are starving while these men are playing with their expensive toys.”

The outrage is justified, but we are misplacing the blame on a few individuals. The real culprit is the shifting locus of control that was the inevitable result of some of history’s crushing avalanches. We Boomers watched it all fall. We suffered the assassination of two Kennedys and a King within five years. They were gunned down along with our hopes for a brighter future. We witnessed an ordinary teacher launched into space only to be incinerated before our tear-clouded eyes. There was Vietnam and Watergate, too, just in case we were not angry or stunned enough. We started a principled revolt, but we numbed ourselves with drugs and cable TV instead. There was a void that had to be filled.

Government, science, and education had failed us. We were in a stupor when the private sector moved in to fill the void. We were paralyzed when it started in healthcare–so-called managed care. I was at a mental health conference when the announcement was made, “From now on, those who pay for the care will decide what care is given.” We knew intuitively what a bad idea that was, but we did not have the gumption left for another fight.

In an era where regulatory powers were systematically diluted, the Fairness Doctrine, a sort of weathervane that precipitated balance and accuracy in news media, was dissolved and a thundercloud of vaporous infotainment emerged. Next, they went for education, an easy target for privatization. Data could show how public education seemed to be flopping and floundering, so they came in for the kill. School Choice, they called it — but it was just another way of reeling in the fish. And, in case early intervention didn’t succeed in weakening the public consciousness, they encroached on higher education with “public/private partnerships.” This justified cutbacks in public spending on education and gave us fast food on campuses, and a steady diet of student debt.

Perhaps, mental health services suffered the most. It was a cakewalk to demonstrate how drugs could do what counseling and safe lodging could not. “Better living through chemistry” was their mantra, and it rang true, at least if you focused on short-term results. It was certainly cheaper. The brick and mortar of hospitals and mental institutions were bulldozed, and so were the benefits of personalized care. We have yet to calculate the effects of the loss of restful and recuperative hospital stays, either for mental or physical services. We can thank big pharma for much of our homelessness too.

The common denominator for all these shifts in control is monied interests. In my youth, I often heard the old saying, “Money talks and bullshit walks.” That has never been truer, except that the wealthy have become the bullshitters. They have created and seized media propaganda platforms to keep the public guessing about who to trust. No wonder so many people favor authoritarian leadership. It’s more comfortable to be certain, even if we’re wrong. It’s also not surprising that someone like George Santos and Marjorie Taylor Green could be elected when fact checking is impossible in a more performative than informative world. We have abdicated our responsibility as professionals and citizens and drifted into the ‘misinformation’ age. Opportunists have been able to seize control because we professionals got lazy and neglected to show the effectiveness of our services.

We have failed to accept the reality that we not only have to do our jobs, but we must fight for our professions and convince the public that we deserve their trust. We must also accept the reality that we need to be more politically minded if we lose the PR game now and then. If we don’t do these things, we will become easily replaceable commodities instead of practitioners of our professions and self-governing citizens.

Much of the anxiety many of us feel today is the direct consequence of the shift from public to private control. We like getting our packages delivered quickly, but we overlook the human cost. The delivery person who scrapes their knee on your porch steps probably won’t have time to wait for the band-aid you offer. We love instant results, but we need cameras now, to keep an electronic eye out for porch pirates.

Mostly, we need to realign private interests with the public good. While I embrace innovation and technology and see a robust role for the private sector, I want public accountability and unbiased oversite. I want professionals who deliver human services to stand up and show their value so monied interests can’t subjugate them. It would be reassuring to see top leadership take charge and instill a sense of confidence in the rest of us, without having to distort the facts or constantly worry about the bottom line. They don’t have to be perfect and, even if they occasionally engage in bullshitting, let it at least be artful and with the public interest in mind.