Toxic Metrics and the Death of "Community" in America

 Mark Zuckerberg’s jet  

Mark Zuckerberg’s jet

main residential compound  

and yacht 

                                     

Toxic Metrics and the Death of “Community” in America

Donald Trump always hated the community (Queens, NYC) where he was born and raised. He yearned for the New York across the river, where money was the ultimate metric of success: Manhattan. And when that part of NYC rejected him and his values, he fled to a state in the midst of an experiment in anti-democratic autocracy: Florida. Was he looking for that 1789 “community” that had defined a tiny (4 million people) and highly isolated new nation, 95% engaged in farming, or did he not care anymore? The hallmark of early-era America, outside of the few urban areas, was small pockets of farmers, linked by weekly church attendance, which were communities where everybody knew everybody. Where people met and married, where barnstorming was a collective mutual support construction practice and where individuals cared for members of that community, into which they were born and where they were buried when their time came.

“Community” grew as immigrants invaded both cities and vast tracts of arable land that was slowly being confiscated from the Native Peoples who lived there. As the 1803 Louisiana Purchase offered more room for new communities, settlers from other, mostly European countries, brought their crops (and agricultural knowhow), recipes, religious structures (almost all Christian), music, language and culture to what was, at first, a melting pot and later a lettuce bowl of diversity. Those First Amendment rights were particularly attractive to former residents of monarchies plagued by religious intolerance.

The Civil War, Reconstruction and the Industrial Revolution changed all that. People left their communities, often devastated by war damage, having fought wars, to seek economic/well-paid jobs and opportunities far from their home communities. Former slaves, now free to travel, left the repressive lands they once worked under whip and chain… to seek opportunities northward.

Today, those communities – from ethnic urban enclaves to farming communities and small towns – have slipped out of national relevance, except where they could be manipulated by unscrupulous politicians, from Reconstruction to Tea Party/MAGA frustration to liberal countermeasures. Territorial “communities” were soon replaced by shared job center connections. As advanced education became an employment-essential, mobility raised certain new variables to communities and individuals’ increasingly feeling unconnected. For those admitted to nationally prestigious universities, there was little reason to return to a job-impaired small town or rural community upon graduation. Facebook and other social networks were often the only way for college friendships to continue. But maybe “community” does not matter now.

You can see, even in our most basic assumptions, that we prize efficiency (even modest) over community. As Andy Boenau, writing for the July 9th FastCompany.com, explains: “If you want to understand how even modern American cities became hostile to human life, don’t start with the political conspiracies; look at the way city planners and road engineers calculate success… Every day, public agencies across the country greenlight projects that cost millions of dollars, destroy neighborhoods, and ultimately kill people—all in the name of saving drivers a few seconds. This is standard operating procedure, justified by a single, dangerous metric: vehicular delay… In transportation bureaucratese, it’s called Level of Service (LOS). Think of it as a report card with grades A to F describing how freely cars move. But this grade has nothing to do with safety, quality of life, economic productivity, or human flourishing. It’s entirely about how long a vehicle waits at an intersection or slows down during rush hour. The built environment is shaped around that metric.” People and their welfare take second place all the time.

For some, feeling unconnected or isolated, distances collapsed as online connectivity replaced in person reality. Increasingly, individual identity and political affinity merged into one. It’s hard for a Massachusetts liberal to drive through virtually any Oklahoma residential district where Trump and MAGA signs are everywhere, and those with liberal leanings are likely to hold back.

“In today’s America, political identity isn’t just about voting—it’s shaping who we want as friends, neighbors, and even in-laws. A study published in Political Psychology found that partisanship now overrides nearly all other social identities—including race, religion, and education level—when people evaluate others. Using a national survey, researchers showed participants profiles of hypothetical individuals and asked them to judge how much they liked each one, or whether they’d want to live near them or have them as family. Political affiliation was the strongest predictor of these social preferences, with people consistently favoring those who shared their party and expressing dislike for those who didn’t…

“A new study published in the European Journal of Political Research found that voters who feel ideologically close to ‘dark’ political candidates—those scoring high in Machiavellianism, psychopathy, or narcissism—were more likely to express stronger affective polarization. The effect wasn’t caused by dislike of the opposition, but rather by an emotional attachment to their own combative leader…

“In one of the largest cross-cultural studies of its kind, researchers from 25 countries found that people are more likely to support dominant, authoritarian leaders when they perceive intergroup conflict or national threat. Published in Evolution and Human Behavior, the study included over 5,000 participants and tested whether scenarios involving war or peace affected leadership preferences. In conflict situations, people were more likely to prefer leaders who appeared physically dominant, aggressive, or forceful. This preference showed up across cultures—from the United States and China to Kenya and Russia… The findings support the idea that humans have an evolved tendency to turn toward strong leadership during times of danger.” Eric Dolan writing for PsyPost, July 5th. Perhaps the United States is just too big to be governable.

While the metrics of success, at least in the United States, focus on growth (as in Gross Domestic Product), low unemployment, share prices and relative currency values, we have a pretty angry fractured population. Our old celebrities, movies stars pale in comparison to todays’ musical and athletic powerhouses… and everything pales in comparison to billionaire status. Gated “communities” (where no one really speaks to anyone else) are replaced by mega-billionaire, guarded “enclaves” and “compounds.” What are not national priorities are wellness metrics (note: US life expectancies are declining), measures of relative happiness (Finland seems to be the happiest nation on earth… but it’s so… er… socialist, right?) and livability (Denmark’s Copenhagen takes that prize).

Just looking at how skewed our metrics truly are, understand how “rich folks” bias tilts our GDP calculation (the value of the aggregation of US economic transactions). Let’s use a relative earnings model as an example. Look at 10 Americans earning $100,000 each and one American earning $10M. The average earning of that $11M total is obviously $1M/per capita… and GDP is not a median or a mean calculation; it is an aggregated amorphous number that has virtually no statistical relevance for anyone. Simply put, mega-wealth, mega-earnings and the special tax rules that amplify the wealth of the richest, skew “success” dramatically but mean nothing to average Americans. Unlike the stocks and bonds market, the labor and GDP statistics, there are no routinely scheduled or international comparisons for happiness, affordability and wellness. Reports on such metrics (that should really matter), are reported randomly with little attention or alarm/joy.

I’m Peter Dekom, and in a country where Americans increasingly hate each other, where mass misery loves highly polarized company, we live with a government that uses statistical manipulation to tell you why you should be happy and satisfied… when you really are not.