Crude America

I don’t know about you, but I’m tired of crude America. Crudeness, vulgarity, incivility, in-your-face-behavior has replaced cleverness, wit, astuteness, civility and mutually respectful dialogue.

Comedy, late-night programming and TV drama have jumped on the crudeness bandwagon as if that is what audiences have always wanted. And audiences respond as if that’s always what they wanted. Crudeness becomes manly (womanly, too) and cool, while thoughtfulness and substance demand too much of us.

Crudeness is celebrated and practiced at all levels of society. It gets attention, and even builds careers. But to me, it’s just dumbing down in action. You don’t have to be smart. You don’t have to think critically. You just have to be crude.