Let civility reign America has lost the war for civilization by losing the war for civility. I know, you may say that we never had any; after all, some of you are from New York. For all the niceties of upper-class life, the fact is, civility never spread around to everyone. I know you strict constitutionalists always point out that there’s no “right to civility” in the constitution; but frankly, you people also argued for segregation. Quite uncivilly, I may add. Look at history: there was the lacing of blankets handed out to natives with smallpox and the little matter of slavery (neither of which is a prime example of polite society) but after hundreds of years, wars, protests, and boycotts, promises were made dammitt! As natives can tell you, the breaking of promises is quite uncivil. I know I’m not the first person to notice this lack of civility; as I am often forced to travel via car I sometimes listen to talk radio. On the radio I often hear lamentations about the rudeness of dissidents and ne're-do-wells, as well as suggestion that they be arrested -or killed- which seems awfully rude. Rudeness and lack of civility, you see, has blanketed the nation. If you were to sit in on a court hearing, you would find politeness in short supply; unless you count the facade of procedure as true civility. In the ranks of the police it is most often missing-in-action. If you quiz a politician about his commitment to civility, he will artfully answer a different question altogether while giving you a practiced nod and a wink. Our heath care system is rude, if you consider letting people die or not according to their bank account a mark of rudeness; which I do. Our Christians are rude, as they have come to believe that feeding the poor and healing the sick is anti-free-market and therefore unchristian behavior tantamount to high blasphemy. The news media is rude, as they have come to realize that rudeness sells. People are willing to pay for rudeness, though the rudeness they are willing to pay for is usually a rudeness directed toward people other than themselves. Industry is rude, as they insist on paying as little to workers as possible in a market economy- an economy that flounders if, say, workers don’t have money to spend. Then they complain no one is spending money or paying bills; which is rude. In America, even the poor hate the poor; which is a victory for social engineers and public relations men everywhere. Some people lack civility even toward themselves. Yes, America is rude. I could forgive this, I suppose, were it not for the fact that this rudeness is intent on spreading across the entire globe. Civility- how may I lament it? It hath died before it spread to all the social classes. If you listen to old radio, radio from 50+ years ago, you can hear the difference. I heard a conversation between Orson Wells and H.G. Wells where they kept referring to Hitler as “Mr. Hitler.” Neither of them thought well of the man or his policies, but neither did either man feel familiar enough to call him “Adolf.” In todays media it’s “Saddam this” and “Saddam that.” Who are these people? Are they so familiar that they can call the man “Saddam?” Please. That’s “Mr. Hussein.” Except for George Bush. He has family connections to the man, so for him it is acceptable to say “my father’s old business partner” or even “Uncle Saddam.” But that’s for him. The rest of us don’t have these close familial connections to Mr. Hussein. A while back I was in Seattle, and I couldn’t even find a public bathroom. Withholding bathrooms from the public? Uncivil. Many places you go, in cities across the country, you will see signs that say “no public bathroom.” This is the result of the failure of pay toilets in the 70’s. Even in the most capitalistic society there are just some things the people will not stand for. So, having been refused bathroom revenue, businesses refused bathrooms. I know what you strict constitutionalists say; there’s no “right to relieve yourself” in the constitution. It’s the age old argument- “relief as a right” vs “no right to relief.” I was in Seattle and there was no relief in sight. There were coffee shops everywhere- to the left and to the right- but there were no public bathrooms. It was like a desert where you could have all the water you could drink as long as you didn’t ever -ever- need to pass any. When the revolution comes, it will be over the right to universal civility; and there will be bathroom access for all. They say a lot of bad things about Mr. Castro (whom I do not know), but I am pretty sure in Cuba they don’t have signs that say “no public bathroom.” In fact, I think they have public bathrooms. In the Netherlands I have heard that when any Dutch citizen is walking down the street and feels the slightest bit of pressure in the bladder a crew of union carpenters and plumbers show up to build a state of the art facility right there on the spot. They, however, live in a sort of “paradise on earth” I am told, and I do not expect that much. I simply expect all who disagree with me to be slaughtered mercilessly. Can I get an Amen? David Raffin is the editor of Vision? Nary! magazine. A writer and a performer, he may be contacted though his home page. This column is available by email. If you are interested in running this column as a regular feature in your publication, contact here.