It is not possible for a person to question completely the foundation upon which rests his sense of self. No matter how wrong-headed, for for that matter cruel and pointless one's way of being, one must justify to oneself why one has the character one has.
In many cases, people will resist attempting even slight alterations in their own attitudes and comportment. They are in the main satisfied with, or at least reconciled to who they are and how they got that way; they can revisit the fundamental parts of their character, but success is never assured.
There are some truths about oneself that one can never fully face, and in this way nations are like people. If we bear this in mind it might be easier to understand why a country as great as the United States does not have the proportionate ability to change itself.
All countries, like all people, are limited in their capacity for self-reflection. They are as proud as any person; they always see themselves as virtuous.
The United States has been favored by fortune, but also by talent and yes, virtue - even now. We have justly enjoyed the fruits of our disciplined labor. We have created a haven and the conditions for the majority of us to enjoy it. We demand a lot of others and use more than our share of resources, but to ask us to be less demanding and more mindful of what we use would be to punish us for our success as a national enterprise.
We do not have the culture of our southern neighbor or the kindliness of our northern one, but we have always tried to do so much more than they; our ambitions have been heroic. So, for us to act as if we were an ordinary country is psychically absurd. No one, not even ourselves, has the right to demand from us a fundamental change. Indeed, we have only changed when circumstances have forced change upon us.
Inconveniently, however, other great countries have transformed themselves, often with our help. They have become almost the opposite of what they were, and the world has then been able to enjoy peace. We must become the opposite of what we are for the world to survive, while preserving that which is great about us. This is the challenge of a great nation.
In many cases, people will resist attempting even slight alterations in their own attitudes and comportment. They are in the main satisfied with, or at least reconciled to who they are and how they got that way; they can revisit the fundamental parts of their character, but success is never assured.
There are some truths about oneself that one can never fully face, and in this way nations are like people. If we bear this in mind it might be easier to understand why a country as great as the United States does not have the proportionate ability to change itself.
All countries, like all people, are limited in their capacity for self-reflection. They are as proud as any person; they always see themselves as virtuous.
The United States has been favored by fortune, but also by talent and yes, virtue - even now. We have justly enjoyed the fruits of our disciplined labor. We have created a haven and the conditions for the majority of us to enjoy it. We demand a lot of others and use more than our share of resources, but to ask us to be less demanding and more mindful of what we use would be to punish us for our success as a national enterprise.
We do not have the culture of our southern neighbor or the kindliness of our northern one, but we have always tried to do so much more than they; our ambitions have been heroic. So, for us to act as if we were an ordinary country is psychically absurd. No one, not even ourselves, has the right to demand from us a fundamental change. Indeed, we have only changed when circumstances have forced change upon us.
Inconveniently, however, other great countries have transformed themselves, often with our help. They have become almost the opposite of what they were, and the world has then been able to enjoy peace. We must become the opposite of what we are for the world to survive, while preserving that which is great about us. This is the challenge of a great nation.
