America is in trouble. DEEP trouble.
Why? Because in all too-many places across this country, IDEALISM is out, while RIGHTEOUSNESS, ILL-INFORMED & UNJUSTIFIABLE ANGER, RETALIATION, VERBAL & PHYSICAL VIOLENCE are IN.
DECENCY, GENTLENESS, REFLECTION, RESPONSIBLE ROLE-MODELING, QUIET STRENGTH, COMPASSION, INFORMED OPINION, PUBLIC DECORUM, and RESPECT for THE VERY FOUNDATIONS of our CONSTITUTIONAL DEMOCRACY are SCORNED, while ARROGANCE, VINDICTIVENESS, TOXIC,TOUGH-GUY MASCULINITY, RACISM, ANTISEMITISM, HOMOPHOBIA and RAMPANT MISOGYNY are CELEBRATED.
Our status as the world's most enduring Beacon of Democracy has been INTENTIONALLY & SYSTEMATICALLY ERODED -- so DISTORTED and CHEAPENED that one has a right to wonder if as a country we'll EVER AGAIN REGAIN the respect and affection we once so proudly enjoyed and cherished.
Again, America is in trouble. DEEP trouble.
We must make choices, every step of the way, as we walk, run and stumble through our lives.
I don't know about you, but as I grow older and older, I want to be remembered someday, by friends, neighbors, family and strangers as a kind, thoughtful, well-informed, compassionate person -- a fundamentally decent, genuinely likable human being.
I haven't always and never WILL score 100 in my personal goals -- not even CLOSE to it -- but I'm always trying, & I'm proud of my rock-hard determination to be the best person I can be.
What we say at any given moment, and how we conduct ourselves wherever we happen to be, MATTERS!
No one should be proud of being smug, self-centered, mean-spirited & self-servingly judgmental.
Being friendly, decent, courteous, helpful and generous feels GOOD! And being these things is a sign of STRENGTH, not weakness.
What choices are you making in YOUR life? How do YOU wish to be remembered?
Sometime soon, sit down and compile a list of your unique strengths and weaknesses. I can almost guarantee you that you'll be surprised at what you learn about yourself from doing this exercise. You will have reminded yourself of just what it is that you've a right to be proud of -- and what clearly needs some serious adjusting.
Ain't NO perfect person in all of human history! But what can possibly be wrong with STRIVING for at least incremental improvement or, on rare occasions -- in just one little corner of our hard-won personae -- something approaching perfection?
-- Ross Alan Bachelder, June 26, 2023