OPINIONS A NATION OF ISOLATION by Lauren Sacks 
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Hubert Humphrey once proclaimed that "national isolation breeds
national neurosis." Even though he said this over forty years
ago, his statement may never have been more relevant to our
times. From its genesis, America has always been a country based
on individualism. Our whole economic system, capitalism, is based
on having the best man win, rather than having the whole
community benefit. But as this philosophy (and others like it)
lets us flourish economically, it threatens our country's social
fabric. In order to win the capitalist race, one must detach
himself and compete with one's peers; in the twentieth century,
technology compounded the problem by further isolating people
from their communities. Television sets and cars especially serve
to box people in from their surroundings. People stay at home to
watch TV rather than going out to see a play, or drive alone in
their cars instead of taking the train or walking. The
repercussions of an isolated society are serious. If people feel
no sense of community or the world around them, they have no
impetus to help the community, and issues and people go
unnoticed. The ideas of individualism and competition isolate
people from their peers. We see examples of this at South; how
many of us have not wondered whether our GPA is better than our
friend sitting next to us in history class? After a test is
handed back, there is always a flurry to know what others in the
class received to see if you did better or worse than your peers.
I know of schools where students would refuse to help other
students out of fear that the friends would surpass them on the
tests. It is difficult to stay on good terms with somebody if you
are constantly competing with them. This is not healthy for our
society. Seeing as people are already isolated from their peers
by competition, technology only furthers the problem. People come
home from work and sit in front of the television for hours,
dealing only with imaginary sitcom people. The worst part about
television is that it is totally non-interactive. When you watch
a play, you are participating in an event, with the audience and
the cast; when you read a book, you must do the reading.
Television is done for you; there is no interaction involved.
Cars also separate people from their surroundings; we can roll up
the window and ignore anything that annoys us. I am not saying
that people should never be alone, never watch TV, or never drive
a car; all I am saying is that this should not be all that people
do. It is important to be alone sometimes, to be able to think
and relax. However, interaction with other people and the
environment is incredibly important. If you always drive in your
car and never go out for a walk or a bike ride, why would you
care about the environment? If you always stay home and watch
television and never talk to your neighbors and other people in
your community, what reason would you have to actually do
something for your community or people in need? What reason would
you have for taking any action or initiative when with TV
everything is done for you? In conclusion, this problem of
isolation is becoming more and more serious as we enter the 21st
century. The average American child watched absurd amounts of TV,
up to forty hours a week. An era is approaching when people will
be content to sit at home and watch TV rather than do something
to help the world. The reason for the preponderance of the "Rebel
Without A Cause" image in the past fifty years may be a result of
this isolationism. It is not that there are not enough causes out
there that need people; it is that recent generations have been
raised isolated from their communities, and cannot extend their
eyes far enough to actually see the problems and take action.
Something needs to be done. Our generation needs to make a
conscious effort to help our community in some way by joining
clubs, social groups, and writing our congressmen and women; by
watching the news and reading books; and by simply talking to
each other. Otherwise, Americans will become totally isolated
from each other, and if Hubert Humphrey is correct, we will all
find ourselves neurotic and alone.