Previous post
The Anchoress wants to know:
About 100 years ago, a British paper invited many writers to answer the same question, What’s Wrong With the World? They extended the invitation to G. K. Chesterton who wrote back,
Dear Sirs;
I am.
Sincerely,
G.K. ChestertonI will take his answer for my own. Have at it.
So, what is wrong with the world? I can’t speak for the entire world, but I will say what I think is wrong with America. Yes, we are the best country in the world, but that doesn’t mean we’re without a few issues. So, here it is, in 100 words or less:
Once, it was understood that you could do anything… if you were willing to work for it. Americans now expect everything handed to them on a silver platter. Not eating out and buying used cars was called “sacrifice” last night. Americans have no concept of hardship, of sacrifice, of responsibility. And when we abandon the will to work, we lose the American spirit. Its in the eagerness to cut-and-run in Iraq, the panic over times being economically a little harder… sucking it up and working for the long run is unheard of. And that attitude is hurting us.
Now, as to not focus entirely on the negative, I’m going to go the Dr. Helen route as well.
My answer to that question is to answer it with a more important question: “What’s Right with the World?”
So many times, people use negativity to describe the world and their place in it. Believe it or not, I do this myself–alot. But if you actually look at the world around us, much of it is amazing–including people.
Dr. Helen is right. So, in 100 words or less, what is right with America?
America is the freest, most generous country in the world. We are still that shining city on a hill, the beacon for truth. The American people are generous, good people who will bend over backwards to help those in need. We have the strongest military in the world, comprised of the bravest, most selfless among us. We are the most blessed people in the world. We have access to better education, better housing, better food, and better lives because we are Americans – not to mention free access to information. Again, we are the most blessed people in the world.
Now it’s your turn. Same to questions: what is wrong with the world, or, what is right?
Knott Buyinit says: What’s wrong and right with the world?
For me, this question brings to mind two flawed messengers giving speeches that stand fixed in time as history spun wildly away from their words.
Martin Luther King, Jr. – who was right about integration, but wrong about almost everything else – stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. and delivered his famous ‘I Have a Dream’ speech in which he said, “Free at last, thank God Almighty, we are free at last .”
From that moment and until this day, race hustlers of every stripe have worked relentlessly, using the hate, anger, and resentment built up over centuries of white oppression to prove true virtually every vile, racist prediction of the things to come imagined by segregationist bigots of the ’60s. If he could see the self-inflicted wound that passes as the ‘culture’ of many of the very people he fought so hard to help, MLK would surely hear the words of Mark: What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?
George Wallace – who was wrong about integration, but right about almost everything else – took his famous “Stand in the Schoolhouse Door” on the steps of Foster Auditorium at the University of Alabama and reiterated the words of his inauguration speech, “…I say segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever.”
From that moment and until this day – not surprisingly to anyone who really knows Southerners – the love that people in the South have for a game, football, and the men who play it, has chipped away at the hate, anger, and resentment built up over centuries in the only country in the world – ever – to be invaded, conquered, and subjugated by the United States of America. So, not in small measure due to the efforts of a crusty old football coach in a houndstooth hat, George Wallace lived to see that he had been wrong; that – for good or for ill – love, compassion, and tolerance must prevail because we are all Americans together.
Oops, sorry this is more than 100 words, was that a limit?!?
PS: I understand what he was trying to say, but, really, G.K. Chesterton was *exactly* wrong!
Knott Buyinit says: What’s wrong and right with the world?
For me, this question brings to mind two flawed messengers giving speeches that stand fixed in time as history spun wildly away from their words.
Martin Luther King, Jr. – who was right about integration, but wrong about almost everything else – stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. and delivered his famous ‘I Have a Dream’ speech in which he said, “Free at last, thank God Almighty, we are free at last .”
From that moment and until this day, race hustlers of every stripe have worked relentlessly, using the hate, anger, and resentment built up over centuries of white oppression to prove true virtually every vile, racist prediction of the things to come imagined by segregationist bigots of the ’60s. If he could see the self-inflicted wound that passes as the ‘culture’ of many of the very people he fought so hard to help, MLK would surely hear the words of Mark: What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?
George Wallace – who was wrong about integration, but right about almost everything else – took his famous “Stand in the Schoolhouse Door” on the steps of Foster Auditorium at the University of Alabama and reiterated the words of his inauguration speech, “…I say segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever.”
From that moment and until this day – not surprisingly to anyone who really knows Southerners – the love that people in the South have for a game, football, and the men who play it, has chipped away at the hate, anger, and resentment built up over centuries in the only country in the world – ever – to be invaded, conquered, and subjugated by the United States of America. So, not in small measure due to the efforts of a crusty old football coach in a houndstooth hat, George Wallace lived to see that he had been wrong; that – for good or for ill – love, compassion, and tolerance must prevail because we are all Americans together.
Oops, sorry this is more than 100 words, was that a limit?!?
PS: I understand what he was trying to say, but, really, G.K. Chesterton was *exactly* wrong!
Mat says: Hoo boy!…what’s wrong with the world? Where shall I start? Bear in mind that things in open parentheses don’t count…
A lack of critical thinking in this country (look at the movies today to see the lack of originality for an example). Incredibly short-term thinking. The inability to save a buck (gotta spend on something, and if I don’t have it, there’s always the credit card!). A country’s inability to understand the concept of warfare (two sides need to agree to a ceasefire, not ‘we’re going to pull out and that’s the end of the war’). The total lack of responsibility for one’s actions (case in point, the good ole’ bailout). The gradual loss of national sovereignty (do I really need to cite an example for this?). The frustrating ability to actually make some money, only to lose it due to the government (again, the bailout…).
What’s right with the world? Being a cynic, I could simply say, nothing really. However that’s too lazy.
The fact that as bad as things are, we’re still in much better economic shape than many areas of the world (come on! really, we could be living in a third world country where poverty takes on a whole different meaning). The fact that as much as we have screwed things up (this is a general meaning), there is always the idea that things can at least be better. Finally, there are people still out there who are fighting the good fight and refuse to give in to tyranny (government, ideology, etc). Oh yeah, really good food. That’s always a plus.
Since we are founded on the principles of a federal republic, it is ultimately down to the people to make the decisions for the country. We can blame the politicians all we want, but we’re the ones who put them there. As President Truman said, “the buck stops here.”
docjim505 says: All I can say is…
Ditto.
theneophyte says: What’s wrong with America? I won’t speak for the rest of the world as I am a citizen of this country. In short, 2 words. Blame & Responsibility. As in too much of the first and not enough of the second. There is no such thing anymore as an accident, bad luck, act of God, or freak occurrence. It’s always someone else’s fault. Who can I blame for what befell me and better yet, how do I sue them? You wonder why we have such a litigious society? There is your answer.
Hand in hand with this is responsibility as in, “if I take responsibility for what I do, what happens to me, then I don’t have someone else to blame for it. The blame rests on me.”
Our society and our government are more and more telling the people that it’s not their fault for the things that happen to them, and it is our government’s duty to save them from their bad choices. That is why we have bailouts, no fault insurance, and more lawyers per capita than any other nation on earth.
5 Comments