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One pithy definition of Ego is, "Edging God Out." If you
don't believe in God, the definition is, "Easing Good Out."
Either way, taking
the good, the moral, the sacred, the uplifting and the right out of anything is
a sure way to cause its failure.
Alexander Solzhenitsyn said America has adopted the question
"is it legal?" over the more historical "is it right, good and moral?", and
that this disqualifies the U.S. as the example for a future free society in
Russia.
And the iconic "ugly American" has left a bad taste in elite mouths for
several decades. Are we really a nation of loud, ignorant, arrogant and
uncaring louts?
If so, what does this say about the future of freedom?
If not (and I suspect this is the more accurate answer), why
have we projected this image around the world and, even more worrisome, to each
other?
Are we really that smug, or do Americans sometimes overcompensate for
our insecurities by putting on our football-fan egotism?
The middle class has
seen its standard of living slowly decreasing since the 1970s, propped up only
by two-income households and increasing debt.
We are deeply worried, as a
nation, and humility is a hard pill for great powers to swallow.
Pride is often touted as a basis of patriotism and national
loyalty, but it is actually humility and self-sacrifice that obtain and
maintain freedom in a society.
Is it time for a refocus on symbols like "liberty
and justice for all," "give us your tired, your poor, your struggling masses
yearning to be free," "a more perfect union," "we the people," or "one nation
under God"?
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Social Leader Daily by Oliver DeMille
