Decorum is dead. Your classmates won’t stop talking over your professor. Walking down Library Walk is a battlefield. Nobody bothers to hold the elevator open when they see you rapidly approaching. It seems like everyone has their fair share of bad manners horror stories. 

Today, 47% of Americans say that we have collectively gotten ruder. I am one of them, and I believe we need to fight back. Though these small moments of disrespect seem to be minor irritations, their increasing frequency reflects a larger systemic failure in our society.

In what direction is our culture heading? In an economy reliant near-singularly on competition and limited resources, we have created a toxic social culture that encourages you to leave every man for himself. 

In class, our peers are our enemies, threatening to “ruin the curve” in our competition to be top of the class. At work, our coworkers become our rivals, competing for that managerial promotion. 

This constant struggle for resources and success, enforced by our economic system, makes us apathetic and uncaring to everyone around us. We have our own lives to worry about, so why bother with small things like responding to that classmate who asked for notes from a missed lecture? We are impaired by this dystopian individualistic culture that leaves us with no regard for others, even if it is not on purpose. But this problem did not come out of nowhere.

Since the 1980s, post-Reaganomics debates and policies have centered on the modern-day influences of neoliberalism — a political and economic ideology promoting privatization, deregulation, individual responsibility, and “pulling yourself up by your bootstraps.” In such a society, the social responsibility to be independent and competitive is paramount.

We’ve already seen the neoliberal agenda seep into major aspects of our life with the recent devastating attacks on federal aid programs. The Trump administration has already expressed its plans to further these neoliberal policies with cuts to Pathways to Removing Obstacles to Housing or the Minority Business Development Agency, programs in place to support historically underserved communities in otherwise systemically unfavorable conditions. The rhetoric behind these cuts follow the same script: A hard-working American should be able to find success on their own; you don’t need to rely on the government to do everything for you; woke DEI policies make us lazy. The principles highlighted in these cuts turn us away from our community and fosters resentment toward others. 

Whether or not you think you’re above these morals, you actively perpetuate these ideals in your everyday life. In my three years of attending UC San Diego, I have realized how this university instills these same neoliberal individualistic tendencies in every student. Chances are, you have noticed this too. 

But it doesn’t have to be this way. We all have the opportunity — the responsibility, even — to make life just a bit more tolerable for everyone. 

Let’s go back to your classmates speaking loudly during a lecture. In the moment, this might seem like a glaring example of their innately rude personalities. The reality is, these lack of social cues are a result of years being taught to only focus on yourself. Understanding that is the first step to improving our interpersonal relationships. Being cognizant of these bad habits will make us more self-aware, and hopefully, catch these behaviors before they come into fruition.

So, I urge you to be that change. Clean up after yourself. Take your laundry out within 10 minutes. Thank the custodial workers who make your lives on campus easier. And seriously, take that rotting food out of the Catalyst fridge.