Bob Dylan’s refrain seems current. Prominent singers and groups performed the song in the 1960s and 1970s as a protest anthem about the Vietnam War and racism. “The battle outside ragin’/ Will soon shake your windows/ And rattle your walls/ For the times they are a-changin’!”
William Butler Yeats wrote a century ago: “Turning and turning in the widening gyre/ The falcon cannot hear the falconer;/ Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;/ Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world.”
Some of us remember earlier periods of difficult change. However, not as disruptive as current changes because, in spite of it all, back then the center did hold. Americans clung to some basic truths and ideals that promoted resilience, healing and flourishing
We can list several fundamental changes causing current disruptions, and it is easy to point fingers of blame on this or that group, or policy. A blame game is not the purpose of this column. However, it is important in the new year to understand some forces that cause basic truths and commitments to wobble and why it is much harder to establish a firm foundation of knowledge and truth for our future.
Our reservoir of knowledge and technology are huge and expanding faster than our ability to catch up. No one knows more than a small sliver, so that few experts are able to understand new information. Moreover, what is known is a complex interwoven tapestry of truth. Pulling on one thread affects everything. The intellectual boundaries that once separated departments, disciplines, and even physical buildings on university campuses no longer fit the relationships uncovered in the weave of research and applications.
An ocean of information and data wash over those with iPads, iPhones, and now even smart watches. Someone in a group will grab from the web an answer to any question almost before it is formed. Some answers might even be correct. All this happens in an unmediated cloud somewhere — where anyone who wants to can disseminate anything at all to whom it may concern. Device screens are full of truth and falsehood, contradictory affirmations, hate speech and moderation, while few viewers have resources for making informed judgments. All knowledge seems to have a diminishing half-life. We become prisoners of facts and factoid, even fabrications in what some call ‘the post-truth age.’
Another dramatic change is that American population and our neighbors are morphing before our eyes — more diverse, different life experiences, subcultures, commitments, visions for the future, and little shared reality. An increasing number experience fractured families, communities, churches, schools, wobbling moral compasses and fragmentary worldviews.
These changes we witness are driven by powerful, transnational forces. What can one person do? Put a finger in the dam?
We can recognize that changed are not the fault of any one person or group. We can try to mediate between diverse groups. We can make good judgments by demanding truth and engaging in careful, rational thinking. We can commit to lifelong learning that facilitates adjustment to dramatic changes. We can encourage positive leaders and be patient with them. We can occupy the center and hold it together.
Dylan taunted old folks: “Your old road is rapidly agin’/ Please get out of the new one/ If you can’t lend your hand/ For the times they are a-changin’.” In this new year, we can work to rebuild local roads that lead toward peace and abundant life for all. Please help the center hold!
Raymond B. Williams, Crawfordsville, LaFollette Distinguished Professor in the Humanities emeritus, contributed this guest column.
