What is Wrong With Them?

Peggy Noonan has a very good article today, but I wouldn’t limit it to “What is wrong with those in
Washington?”  I think the problem that she is seeing is something that is infiltrating all of our lives.  I believe that the biggest problem we as a society face is pride.  You can see it in the way we talk about
issues– you can’t discuss ideas without someone believing you’re attacking them personally.  You can see it in how many people demand “rights”: Rights to abortion, rights to demolish people’s houses, rights to unholy marriages, etc.  We live in a society that is tending toward more and more pridefulness.  As the Scripture says, pride comes before a fall.

Here’s some quotes from Peggy:

In normal America if you have a high character you don’t wrestle people to the ground until they acknowledge it. You certainly don’t announce it. If you are compassionate, you are compassionate; if others see it, fine. If you hold to principle it will become clear. You don’t proclaim these things. You can’t, for the same reason that to brag about your modesty is to undercut the truth of the claim.

I do have to agree with Peggy, though, that it is glaringly obvious in our elected officials, but I have to disagree that it’s just a problem there.  I just think the cameras are on these people more, and they have more power.  True, there are people that are humble and don’t make a big deal of themselves.  For every one of them, however, there are many more that are bragging about themselves: Their looks, their talent, their ability to eat things on TV shows that no one ever thought of…  This is our society– much different than how it started out.