Culture

Multiculturalism has become the refuge for scoundrels of all cultures.

Rudeness, public indecency, littering, obnoxious children, uncontrolled pets, vandalism, improper maintenance of private property. These blights on the general culture are routinely defended and excused by so-called multiculturalists, or The Politically Correct. Political correctness is used as a shield by the irresponsible and irresponsive. Looking the other way rather than practicing civic responsibility is a rampant behavior in urban society.

I ride public transport often. I see the deterioration in the American cultural ethic every time I am on the train. Garbage is thrown everywhere. People monopolize whole sections of a train to the exclusion of other passengers. Punks place their feet up and use three or four seats at their personal space with arrogant looks of challenge to anyone who might approach, regardless of that passenger's age or need of a seat.

These are symptoms of the dissolution of the fabric of civil society. By extolling the wonders of the cultures of our massive influx of immigrants, Americans have lowered the standard of their own country's etiquette to that of the Third World. Some immigrants have no needed role models, because nobody takes the time or risk of telling them their bahavior is simply inappropriate or disturbing to those around them. The poor who are native to America once looked to those who were better educated and mannered for standards of behavior. No more. They look to the deteriorated culture and simply behave as they would in their own educationally deprived homes. After all, nobody will take the time or energy to tell them otherwise. And, if some responsible, courageous citizen does speak up, that poor soul is often unsupported or even criticized by the lazy and undercultured around him/her in a public situation.

Practice involves constant self-appraisal, self-education, self-discipline. However, compassion cannot be practiced in isolation. Compassion sometimes entails correcting wrong behavior directly or by example. By correcting wrong, or uncivilized/dysfunctional social behaviors, the practitioner is being compassionate. The practitioner is trying to help the corrected person live a more functional and happy life in society.

Hospitality

I was raised in European style. My family, for the most part, were new Americans. Our home, where my maternal grandmother lived, was the social nucleus for an extended family. This entailed weekly Sunday luncheons, gastronomic affairs with an abundance of peasant foods, recreated from Old World recipes.

I attended Euro-centric schools, taught by nuns and then Jesuits. The Jesuits who taught me were Francophiles for the most part. They summered in Europe, bicycled along the Loire, studied in Rome's libraries.

The Jesuits, being a rather hedonistic bunch despite their vow of poverty, taught us table manners, general etiquette and the ancient manners of hospitality, based in Greco-Roman civilization. It was a different time, before rappers and the omnipresent usage of obscenities in common speech.

I am glad I had the opportunity to glimpse the life of a more gracious time. Today, I value the exchange of hospitality greatly, but I find few people trained in or appreciative of the niceties of truly hospitable behavior. The general attitude today is rather basic and anarchic. "Here's the remote. There's the refrigerator and the microwave." Manners are often considered snobbery. This is a loss for the species. Perhaps it is an inevitability in an overpopulated and alienating world.

Part of my practice of compassion and caring is my developed sense of hospitality, despite my means. Hospitality is not made up of grand gestures. It is a sincere and affectionate sharing of one's happiness, home and resources.