Over the past few years, the United States has seen a set of social (noncommunicable) ailments reflective of a growing erosion of social civility, mirrored by a healthcare system that is criticized for an overemphasis on profit rather than patient care. This double decline reveals underlying systemic problems in the American way of living in which individualism and business wants frequently supersede social values and public health.
The Erosion of Social Civility
That one word, "Great Uncivilization," fairly encompasses the current condition of American life, a life in which the composure and grace of the "above the fray" are becoming less and less. This decrease is also noticeable across different domains of the daily life, e.g., .
- Public Behavior: There are an increasing number of described cases of public aggression in individuals showing an extreme lack of tolerance and concern for others. This effect is also referred to as "Main Character Syndrome" in which people act as if the whole world revolves around them, and as a result show indifference to the concerns and interests of others.
- Consumer Culture: The coinages of "grab hags" and "Karens"-words for self-claimed, entitled, and self-rewarding behavior-at least indicate a more and more impatient culture of egocentrism and individualism. These behaviours show themselves in behaviours that include hoarding of resources, disrespect of service providers and violation of norms.
- Digital Interactions: Online communities are increasingly becoming foci for incivility and homing beacons for the behavior as it occurs on SNS. Anonymity on the internet unfortunately drives people to engage in bullying, harassing and disinformation.
The Broken Healthcare System
Parallel to the decline in social civility is a healthcare system that many argue is fundamentally flawed. Opponents also argue that the US health care system in its target is focused on dollar's return on capital, so patients pay the price. Key issues include:
- Profit Over Patients: The system is developed in such a way that financial gain trumps patient health. Practices such as billing for services beyond what is actually provided, performing procedures that are not indicated and withholding proper care to save money are all obvious.
- Insurance Challenges: There is routinely a challenge in the emergence of handling insurance companies whose claims receive denial and insurance is missing for recommended medical treatments. This is due to extremely high out of pocket costs, which is an enormous financial strain for families.
- Access to Care: There is an increasing trend of inequity in health care access to quality of care to disadvantaged groups of people who are disproportionately disadvantaged. Especially rural communities are transforming into "healthcare deserts" where there are too few hospitals and physicians.
Societal Implications
Drop in social grace and failures of the health care system are not stand alone problems, but rather interlocking and symptomatic of much deeper societal problems:
- Economic Inequality: These two effects also show the growing gap between rich and poor. This occurs in health services and healthcare itself, in terms of access imbalance and care experience and in social interactions, when socioeconomic need elevates conflict and fosters empathy collapse.
- Cultural Shifts: There is a cultural movement away from the collectivist and the interdependency and resulting in the individualistic and the egoism on the cost of laypersonate and community and societal wellbeing of the people. The phenomenon is also defined by the thinning out of social proprieties, and the commercialization of health services.
- Trust in Institutions: Claims of healthcare failure directed to people produce a general distrust of the institutions by the people, and by so doing induce a general distrust in the institution of medicine and in the medical directives, a general attitude of indifference for professional advice and an as a result an increase in complementary treatments based on non logical arguments.
Potential Solutions
Addressing these complex issues requires a multifaceted approach:
- Healthcare Reform: It requires a certain transformation, so that the system's attention shifts from that of the bureaucracy to that of the patient, in pursuits allowing us to perform acts of caring instead of merely keeping busy. These involve both legal changes with the purpose of controlling prices, with the aim to ensure universal access to basic services, but also setting a ban against insurers committing discriminatory acts.
- Promoting Civility: Prosocial activity in trying to foster in society a culture of civility and humanity has the capacity to reverse the trend of social decay. Educational courses, public health projects and community-based projects can help create a climate of constructive intergroup relations and good intergroup communications.
- Addressing Economic Disparities: The combined health and social problem relationship is all too important and must be considered in the context of economic inequality. Policy interventions designed to improve poverty including, access to education and employment will be beneficial by reducing the factors that lead to social breakdown.
The American "Great Uncivilization" of the internet and the dysfunctional UVE care system is a manifestation of the systemic issues that require systemic and interdisciplinary solutions. Redesigning empathy, equity and community well-being at the level which most matters represents one mechanism by which, at least in theory, these are trends can be reversed and communities can be made fairer and more humane.
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