Unfortunately, in the last decades of the twentieth century, it became unfashionable to do good.  Role models looked sullen, resentful and actually gloried in their own selfishness, because selfishness was part of the self-assured and untrammeled egoistic ‘look’ that was regarded as ‘cool’.  Basically, ‘morality’ was portrayed as restraint, as weakness, as submission to authority, when cool people submit to nothing.   The anti-hero came in during the 1960s and has outstayed its welcome.

And so we have it that ‘cool’ has now extended to not putting your litter in a bin, not being encouraging, not being courteous, not being considerate.  It is deeply engrained (as all image-based manifestations of our culture are) and very difficult to shift.

But shifted it must be.  Who really wants to live in a culture where the put-down is the pre-eminent way of communicating, or the evasion of responsibility is the most bragged about achievement.  

Our vulnerability

Just as a tree is much quicker to cut down than to grow, a human being is quicker to hurt than to help.  Hurt comes to us easily; the alternative, the rebuilding of confidence, the resumption of trust, the rekindling of hope – these things take time and often pains-taking (literally) consideration and care.  In a situation in which we are all hurt more easily than helped, is it not imperative that we restore the moral code that says “do to others what you would have them do to you”?  Are we not all vastly vulnerable to the destructive tendencies of our present way of living?

The power of examples

In the early days of movies, they were often ‘uplifting’, containing a clear ‘moral of the story’, warning of the perils of bad behaviour and the intrinsic rewards of kindness.  They carried on the tradition of what your grandparents might have told you.  They sought to enshrine wisdom and responsibility within the story.

Why do we feel we have ‘grown out of’ the need for good examples?  Is it because we now think we don’t respond to examples (good or bad)?  Hardly.  The multi-billion pound advertising industry is predicated on the certainty of the opposite.  We do respond, and we have responded.

We learn by imitation

In most walks of life, we operate not so much by decision as by imitation.  What to wear at a party?  We respond by copying what other people generally wear at that kind of party (be it relaxed, black tie, high fashion or whatever).  What do you do when you score a goal?  You do what you see the players do on TV.  And so on.  So it is with examples in movies or soap operas of kindness, or selfishness, or arrogance, or maturity, or cruelty, or petulance, or patience.  Not that everyone has to be shown ‘doing good’ all the time.  But the constant showing of harmful conduct without comment or, worse, with the insinuation that it is somehow ‘cool’, is highly damaging.  And we have been highly damaged.

The drivers of culture

The drivers of the culture here are widespread.  We are talking about video games, magazines, films, TV dramas, the behaviour of football stars, celebrities, hip-hop artists – and so on.  The common factor is that they all want to be noticed; and that getting noticed can be more easily achieved by shocking some (and looking particularly ‘liberated’ to others), than by behaving considerately.

So that is the fault line.  It is primarily a commercial matter – there is money to be made from shocking, from being the first to push the boundaries of ‘taste and decency’, from flattering the selfish in us rather than evoking the good.

Ready for a change

What to do?  We think the public is ready for a change – for a positive ethic, for a constructive mentality, for a recognition of what is good and a rejection of what is destructive and mean-spirited.  In particular, we hope Uturn UK will be able to call, loudly and clearly, for that change and to demonstrate that it has the support of millions.  We believe that support is there and that it just needs to be mobilised.   Evidence of this comes in an Populus opinion poll (published 8 February 2011), in which 78% said they think Britons could and should do more to help those less fortunate than themselves. 

Key targets

The key targets will be:

• a turning of the tide against violence and cruelty in its most lurid and graphic forms; the setting of a new direction, from ‘a bit more every year’ to ‘a bit less every year’.  This will be achieved by a clear expression of what the public wants (which can be encouraged and emboldened), and also with the tightening of existing powers of film and game classification (and the right to veto some scenes).  The machinery is there, but it is currently flowing with the tide of progressive, year-by-year, loosening of all restraint.
• a campaign for more positive storylines, role models and positive values in TV and film drama.  This should start with ‘public service broadcasting’, which is often anything-but, but should be extended to all television and film.  Some ‘reality’ TV (e.g. ‘Big Brother’) has been particularly damaging in projecting loutish behaviour as normal and therefore acceptable.  We must not be squeamish about applying values to our TV output: if it is damaging, stop it!  We do this with salmonella in eggs, or offal in the animal food-chain.  We have become too frightened of anything that is not towing the line of ‘anything goes’.
• “we should all serve the needs of others” must be stated and re-stated at every level, at every opportunity.  There are some award schemes that recognize bravery or selfless action, but there must be a wholesale reorientation of our society towards helping others.  Celebrities and role models of all kinds have a particular responsibility here and there should be a growing expectation that they will set a good example (as they did, for example, in Live Aid and subsequent anti-poverty campaigns) – and not merely that they will avoid setting a bad one!  There is a highly positive challenge here for all in the public eye to convey a different set of priorities.
• In particular, visiting the lonely, making relationships with those that have few friends, thinking of gestures of kindness – these things must once again be emphasized as something we can each do something about.  One major city council leader was recently asked what the major local problem was.  His answer (in private) was “we have a city of lonely people”.  We can all do something about that!  And this kind of orientation is in fact win-win, as we get such a lift from doing someone else a good turn.
• Street Associations will be the ideal opportunity for serving the needs of others.  The welfare co-ordinator's role is to visit every home and ask: "What could you do for someone else in this street?  Could you come alongside a troubled teenager, or visit and elderly person who is lonely, or help a disabled person with their gardening, or do some English conversation with an immigrant..." - and so on.  The assumption is that we all have something to give and, given the need and opportunity, will be more than willing to give it.  As such, Street Associations can become a seed-bed for values, especially this one!

Next: Commitment is the bedrock of family life