Where has all the honor gone?
A few months ago I took a hiatus from all things political. Aside from feeling a bit burned out from fighting the political fights with both liberals and conservatives in Louisville, I needed a break in general. Late last year I was badly betrayed by someone I thought I was very close to. While this is a political blog and I shan’t get too much into my personal life, there is a bit of parallel between the personal and the political. This parallel centers around the concept of honor.
The top two definitions of honor are: high respect, great esteem, and the quality of knowing and doing what is morally right. I find in both the political realm and the culture at large these attributes are sorely lacking. As a country are we honorable to be so far in debt? What is it that we hold in great esteem?
I recently traveled overseas and was watching CNN International and literally gasped when the presenter matter of factly stated that America was in decline. This wasn’t an editorial statement, it was included in another story; one where the anchor questioned whether this new development would contribute to America’s already noted decline. Shouldn’t we be affronted? Shouldn’t we do all we can to show the world we have the quality of knowing and doing what is morally right? That is, after all, what has set us apart in the world since our birth.
Instead we bicker, excuse me, negotiate over whether to increase our debt or default. Neither of which in my opinion shows that we remember what honor is.
Choices regarding the debt are not easy and lack of honor make them even harder. Knowing and doing what is morally right often takes courage and sacrifice. Both of which as a country we have lost sight of. It’s always easier to not say anything, to turn away, ignore the issue. My recent personal experience bears that out in stark relief.
But issues of honor do not go away when ignored. While processing what was happening in my personal life I kept settling back on the concept of honor. If there was more honor would the situation have turned our differently? If we as a nation were more courageous in our politics would we have as much debt as we do today?
For the betrayal I endured, I am owed a debt of honor. Luckily we don’t live in an era of an over extension of honor, so there will be no pistols at dawn, but the betrayal is there nonetheless. I have chosen for my own sake to forgive the debt of honor owed and turn and walk away. I ask and I wonder if we as a nation can do something similar? While we cannot forgive debt we owe to others we can stop laying blame and seeking scapegoats. It is not the fault of just the rich or the poor or the middle class that we have the current state of debt in which we find ourselves. It is not fair to over tax the rich, enable the poor to remain so, or squeeze the middle class for all their worth to justify both. We must forgive the debt of honor we owe to one another and turn a new page.
Personally I am looking to the future with, if not renewed hope, the clarity of a clean break. This country needs a clean break as well. A break from the pointing fingers, name calling and general deconstructive atmosphere that has characterized US politics in the last eight years. It’s a tall order but I still have hope that we can do it. And that’s genuine hope as defined in the dictionary. Not the slogan “hope” of a campaign logo.
