Bear with me on this. I want to examine the fall of empathy in the United States of America. It is circumspect and just a premise. I don’t really have a way to study this or even know how I could collect data on this premise. It is primarily based on remembering and observing human behavior, economics, and political ideology that has essentially destroyed the humanities in the United States. In general… I’m just sharing my thoughts as a music educator on a society that is in desperate need of a music/art/literature education. Essentially the fall of empathy begins with the rise of neoliberal economic philosophy within governance and the discrediting of public education in the 1980’s.

The rise of Reagan did a number on public schools. His Nation at Risk propaganda book attacked public education by claiming that SAT scores had dropped by 40-50 points, 40% of 17 year olds could not draw an inference from written material, and only 1/5 of students could write a persuasive essay. This information was used to declare a national emergency as education was critical to defense and technologies related to defense/science. The document recommended an increase of core curriculum credits for high school. This included four credits in English, three in math, science, and social studies, and one semester of computer science. It was recommended that foreign language be taught as early as elementary school.

Why? The United States when compared to the testing protocols of other countries found us trailing them academically. As a high school student during the implementation of these requirements I saw major cuts arrive academically to my school district. Fine arts, tech ed (shop,) agriculture and home economics programs were cut way back as enrollment dropped exponentially. My band program went from nearly 140 students to 40 students in four years. Choir saw a similar drop. Drama was hit hard. They cut the agriculture program entirely. The land the high school owned for agriculture has been used for rental income for decades. Electricity, Drafting, Metal Fabrication, Woods, and Automotive classes were all trimmed to half their original course offerings or cut entirely. Special English classes that aligned with drama or specific genres of literature were wiped out. Even sports and extra curricular activities were annihilated.

The later Generation X kids lost so much just so we could work on testing performance. We lost what it was to be human in favor of drone based fact retrieval on a multiple choice achievement test. It has just gotten worse over the last 40 years.  

We had so many teachers out of work due to the document, that a shortage was laughable. Many out of work teachers moved to private schools that paid 60% of what public salaries were to stay employed in their field of expertise. BTW, Private schools started to flourish… as the propaganda played into the religious bias of many people. Indoctrination rather than secular critical thinking model was the objective by the Reagan Administration. It has continued through Democratic and Republican administrations since. Now the current $47 administration wants to eliminate the Department of Education. “We need to move education back to the states,” they say. It always has been with the states. The DoE is the national blueprint, the regulations and enforcement of rights based regulations. It is a national plan, not a national curriculum…. The bias keeps gaining traction… Indoctrination without credible evidence.

Testing… I personally despise testing. We were the only nation that tested all of our students on the highest exams. When I asked cultural artists I hosted from Japan in the 1990’s they reported that they took advancement exams to determine what middle/high school they would go to. Some would attend vocational schools based on their scores. The advanced would attend university preparatory schools. The arts and athletics were all after school activities. Nothing was done during the school day. Music, Art, and Sports were all at the family’s expense at academies. When the United States was comparing its student population they were comparing it only to the university prep test scores of Japan. I’m pretty sure this hasn’t changed much, but I do not have any documentation to support that premise since I am not enrolled at a university where I could access comparable studies. It has been over a decade since I left my PhD studies behind. In essence, every child in America has been lumped into the average score while only a portion of the other developed countries are taking the same test. That means every child who has an IEP, Disability (Mental or Physical,) or has an excellent aptitude outside of the core subjects is included in our composite score. How would you feel being placed into an exam so far out of your expertise as an adult? For me that would be math or statistics. It would overwhelm me emotionally. I would feel like a failure. Imagine the children who have a disability taking the SAT or ACT? Is that fair? Of course not… but… America…

We also have a few other issues too with our national testing. Our country is a melting pot of culture. Our tests are not culturally relevant or engaging to all students. Whereas Japan is a single culture. Japan has a familial hierarchy where the children have to honor their parents and grandparents. Failure to do so can bring shame. The United States is completely free to ignore or take the test seriously. Japan’s testing program has a consequence for success or failure. The student is moved to a specific education paradigm based on their performance. The United States has no such system. The only reason the United States is “at risk” is due to our own failure to have a consequence for ignorance or success.

How has this affected empathy? Let’s get to it…. too much blah blah blah on the history of “ANaR.” While this “education reform” has taken place the popular music of America has become simpler and simpler. The music is less complicated, and the metaphors/lyrics are more contrived. It takes 4-10 writers for a song instead of one. The music is less diverse from a timbre standpoint. The visual is more important than the sound. If you examine the whole of popular music history these trends are ever present. With the addition of technology and AI we will be seeing a landscape where artistic freedom will be irrelevant as a computer can create a dance tune derived from sampling available material and calling it “new.”

The lack of depth and variety of music becoming available leaves children at the mercy of the narrow music choice of the parent(s.) Since the dawning of 1/1 technology initiatives children also fail to form human relationships or bonds for learning how to read or share in things academically or artistically. When you combine these things together you create an individual with less empathy. The more people that lack empathy or the ability to process human relationships normally the more selfishness and greed we see amongst the population….

I see this lack of empathy everywhere. When I go to a store people don’t say “excuse me or pardon me.” I had a a dad with two daughters tell me to “get out of the way” at a Sam’s Club one day. The man appeared to be upper middle class by dress and items in the cart. I told him, “The best phrase is excuse me please.” He proceeded to argue with me. I left with one more comment, “Nice manners you are teaching your children.” That man could have used an arts education, and less testing or STEM. His inability to feign even a sliver of politeness shows his weakness as a human being. Was I rude. Yes. I’m tired of the disrespect I see in all walks of life. I tend to bite back more often.

I feel most at home with other artists and musicians. Our shared empathy makes life much more tolerable. I try to avoid shopping centers or big box stores full of selfish people. If I have to shop I ask my wife to order it online. I’m afraid I will be arrested if I have too many more encounters like that example in Sam’s. Why waste my life on someone with zero empathy or consideration. Sometimes I feel like we are becoming a UFC society… I digress…

I see the lack of patience and empathy while driving more often. The number of people who don’t pay attention to school speed zones is remarkable to me. I have been nearly hit by red light offenders when I do cross walk duty at my school one day a week. Three blocks at 25mph is all we ask. Most go 40-45 mph even when kids are present. Even the corporate vehicles fail to follow the law for kids. It is mind numbing to see this lack of empathy at play.

Our society needs less technology in school and more humanities. We need a consequence or goal for our national testing process. We need vocational education. Better yet, we need to just model our education system after the Scandinavian countries in Europe. These countries are dealing more and more with a multi-cultural citizenry as displaced citizens from war torn countries are looking for new homelands. We need to be more worried about creating an empathetic human being than a test score. I feel this is why the Republican Party is as bad as it is. The years of indoctrination and lack of empathy have made them selfish greedy politicians only worried about their caste rather than their populace.

My theory… A lack of music (art and humanities too.) has led to a lack of empathy and kindness in the United States. It is a product of nearly four generations of public education propaganda that simply lacks credible evidence. 50 years of Republican education policy has failed the country… yet they claim otherwise… It is time for a change… Testing must be reduced. Funding returned. Arts, Vocational, and Humanities must return. Technology must be limited. We must return to creating human beings, not test scores. We need to develop relationships with our children, not technology addictions. We need a Department of Education!!!

Make America Empathetic Again… Start by expunging the right wing extremists from governance. Then bring backs the humanities, arts, empathy, …. so it goes…