礼儀 (Courtesy)

Usually when I visit San Francisco I'm traveling from my little home on the outskirts of Desert Hot Springs, and the city seems oversized, crowded, noisy, and rushed.

But the last time I was there I flew in from Tokyo, and in comparison to that compressed megalopolis of 11 million, SFO seemed laid back, slow, sparsely populated, and lazy. However, after just a week in Japan, there was one aspect of life on the American street that was shocking, i.e., our native rudeness and vulgarity. I hadn't heard people cursing or shouting in public, or yelling angrily into their cell phones for just long enough to be taken aback.

No self-respecting Japanese would ever act that way. Ever. And it's not because there are laws forbidding rudeness or overt public hostility in Japan. People there, unfailingly polite, careful, and reserved, are simply following what sociologists call norms, or mores. We should be so lucky.

There was another homecoming surprise, and that was witnessing the precipitous fall of Don Imus, impaled on the barb of his own rude and insulting tongue, of all things. I found the scenario puzzling, considering that Imus's stock in trade for years has been the insult, the sneer, the slur, and the shameless butt kiss (see the post of 4/11 below). It's not as if "nappy-headed hos" was a sudden, unexpected descent into show-off vulgarity. Besides, that kind of talk is ubiquitous on the airwaves now, and there are lots worse hate-speech slingers than Imus all over talk radio, 24/7.

So what happened? Did Imus's last slur signal some kind of tipping point? Are we finally, as a people, going to pull up short, take a look at what we've become, and sprout a renewed sense of shame?

There are some who are calling for a new package of hate-speech laws, hoping we can legislate ourselves into a more civil condition. It's a terrible idea, and a quick re-reading of the First Amendment should put it to rest. Don Imus has the legal right to say anything he wants, as does the guy on the street corner hollering "Fuck you, bitch," into his cellphone. The question is, do they have a sufficient sense of shame and decorum to restrain themselves? And we need to ask ourselves collectively, do we have enough self-respect to act like human beings instead of like a pack of mad dogs?

Others contend that this issue isn't important. They're wrong. The tone of our public and private discourse is our social atmosphere, like the water a fish swims in. It determines not just how we speak to one another, but heavily influences the content of what we say. And what I hear in our everyday speech isn't just rudeness, but also hostility and aggression. It says a lot about Americans' attitudes toward themselves, each other, and the world.

There are several signs in the air that America has reached a cultural turning point, and that we may be ready to begin the long, slow road back toward an ideal of public integrity, which would involve abjuring vulgarity and frivolity. In addition, Lewis Lapham, in the latest issue of Harper's, quotes the late Arthur Schlesinger, who weeks before his death in February wrote that "Many signs point to a growing historical consciousness among the American people." But that should be another topic, for another time.