Friday.....America.....Pathological Narcissism

One spouse might look at the other as they go over their bills at the dining room table and say something like We spent far too much and are deeply in debt. The hot tub can't be returned, the vacation is already over, the kids would never give up the Home Theater Big Screen TV, the money is already spent. We, as a nation, are in such a situation only exponentially worse. A new political party in power can nix new acquisitions but still has the debt to deal with. Many in Congress know the perilous financial situation America, and the world, is in but the public doesn't want to hear news as ominous as this. Normally, advice at a time like this would be to save and prepare for lean times but try winning reelection on a platform like that? Taxes, hidden taxes and de facto taxes will be demanded even though this hastens the inevitable. It has been 30 years since I read Christopher Lasch's bestselling book The Culture of Narcissism. It's one of those type of books that the whole political spectrum (conservative and progressive) seems to use to prove its point. It might be wiser for all those involved to look only at Lasch's criticism of themselves. We have had a passion for defending an unfettered free market as if it were some kind of god that would "always" lead us to prosperity if we would just leave it alone. This philosophy seems to lead us only into a pathologic (to use a familiar word of Lasch's) greed. Nor is the answer government planning (socialism) that leads to misery and tyranny. Any answer has to come from wisdom in the people who generate a market as well as those who prosper from that market. A man might choose to have one or two beers a week, or one or two six-packs a night, his household suffering if he chooses the latter. The Biblical account of Nebuchadnezzar is one of a supreme narcissist. This brought him seven years of grazin in the grass. Howard Hughes wasn't far behind. In only the latest of ridiculous stories that have increasingly plagued us in recent decades, 12 year old Alexa Gonzales was handcuffed and led away to the police station for writing I love my friends, Abby and Faith on her desk. This should make us wonder if we are losing it like Nebuchadnezzar and Hughes? Is this zero tolerance or zero common sense? Part of Alexa's punishment, after admitting that the procedure to handcuff her was wrong, is to write an essay on her experience. One idea would be a two-part essay, the first emphasizing that she learned her lesson about obeying her teachers, school regulations and respecting other people's property while the second part could be her renewed desire of education, for her experience taught her that her future, her country's future and Abby's and Faith's future are in jeopardy, in no small part, due to our education system's primary attention to diversity, multi-culturalism, relativism and self-esteem at the expense of common sense, traditional values, truth and a liberal education. Alexa, those who collared her, and all of us are subject to narcissistic tendencies. God may permit us to lose control of our faculties, or He may give us seven years of famine, and then again, He may bring about a reformation in His church and a revival in this people.