Reflecting on the American Narcissus
What is most perplexing to me at this moment in American history, when we are at our wealthiest, most secure, and technologically advanced, is how we seem to be so completely riven with fear and anxiety when we come face to face with fellow citizens who hold a different world-view, that we are now willing to contemplate (and create ex nihilo ) utterly apocalyptic scenarios, even to the point of picking up arms and dehumanizing our neighbors as if they were wartime enemies. We faced down real Nazis, Communists, and bloody dictators within the lifetimes of living Americans with dignity and without fear, yet now panic at false shadows of the same. I never bought the media hyperbole that my grandparents belonged to the “Greatest Generation,” which had the benefit of strong leaders who were able to enforce compliance among the recalcitrant when it came to rationing, wartime belt-tightening, and military service, and who actively coerced them to adopt a sense of common purpose. But I do be