WILLING TO SELL OUR SOULS FOR A MAYBE

In the movie musical, “1776,” about the signing of the Declaration of Independence, there is an exchange between John Dickenson, delegate from Pennsylvania and John Hancock, of Massachusetts, President of the Congress.

In that exchange, John Hancock tells John Dickinson, "Fortunately there are not enough men of property in America to dictate policy," and Dickinson replies, "Perhaps not. But don't forget that most men without property would rather protect the possibility of becoming rich, than face the reality of being poor."

I think that the vast majority of American behavior today can be explained that way.

Americans see ownership and possession and even citizenship as a zero-sum game.  In order for me to succeed, there must be others who fail.  This pervades into every aspect of our social interactions today.

Americans once perceived the collective and cooperative.  We saw it in family, in community and neighborhoods, in state and national concerns and considerations.  It was a natural and a comfortable perspective.  The concept of sharing permitted us to act in a non-zero-sum manner.  We could look to the collaborative betterment of our various societies, whether they be local or broad.

We saw our part in our various constituent communities in the second person plural or the third person.  We… Us… Ours…  You…

We now see ourselves in the first person singular.  I… Me… Mine…

And in that shift in perspective, we have lost our American and our most decent human identity.

Consider one very simple example.  At one time in our history, if a child misbehaved in school, that child would also face sanction at home.  The larger part of that sanction would have arisen from an acknowledgement of social contract morality.  Children behave at school and contribute and participate with order, so that ALL children can participate and learn.

Today, that concept of social contract seems outdated and instead of home sanctions imposed on the misbehaving child, the response would be something like, “How dare that school suggest that I haven’t done an adequate job at parenting?”

Americans no longer figuratively hold the door for our friends and neighbors.  And we certainly don’t hold the door for total strangers.

And we no longer pretend to be Christian in anything other than name.

And we choose to win, or to retain our chance to win, rather than to cooperate, collaborate or share.

We feather our own nest and assume that it’s OK for us to succeed, while assuming that someone else must fail if we do.

And it will be our undoing.  If it hasn’t already set that course of events in motion.

“…don't forget that most men without property would rather protect the possibility of becoming rich, than face the reality of being poor."

As we look after ourselves, we lose the strength, dignity, and decency of a powerful people.