WHAT A MESS!

My fellow Americans --

Okay, let’s get something straight. The law of cause and effect operates as perfectly, as justly, and as inexorably in the realm of human affairs as it does everywhere else. People get what they deserve – no more and no less. Nothing happens by chance, right?

So, if American legislators are impatient, intractable and infantile  –  which they definitely are  –  what do we suppose is the reason for it?  

Do you think –  just maybe –  we need to look at ourselves?

Here's my scorecard:

• We Americans are arrogant. We hypnotize ourselves with the myth of “American Exceptionalism” but, in reality, the most exceptional thing I can see is how quickly we’ve seen our empire fall.  I think historians would be hard pressed to find another that declined further in half a century.

• We’re ignorant – of our history, of our politics, of our economics, and of ourselves. We refuse to accept responsibility for our circumstances, and are quick to blame others for problems we have caused ourselves. We blame the politicians for bad government, Hollywood for bad movies and teachers for bad schools – even thoughit is we who elect the politicians, we who go to the movies and we who raise the kids who act out and fail to learn in the schools.

• We’re impatient. When we want something, we want it now.  If we don’t have the money to pay for it, we whip out a credit card and run up a bill.

• We lack self discipline. If we have indigestion, we don’t stop eating the greasy, spicy, devitalized food that caused it . We take a pill.

• We’re selfish. We want bridges and parks and pensions and highways, but we don’t want to tax ourselves to pay the cost.

• We’re soft and self-indulgent. We think we’re entitled to go through life unchallenged, unflustered and unharmed. We say we hate the lawyers, but if anything happens, we immediately want to sue.

• We’re lazy –  physically, emotionally, intellectually and spiritually. Whatever it is, we want it now, and we want it free.

So, my fellow Americans, here’s a suggestion. When tempted to complain about the “mess in Washington”, let’s first resolve to do something about the mess within ourselves.