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Are we feeling good yet?

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By John Nash

Of Cabbages and Kings

Published: June 25, 2009

As you may know, I have often offered my unsolicited opinion about the sorry state of our human society.

We, in these fruited plains, produce less than prior generations, suffer from higher crime rates, generally avoid work, produce more bastards, are more prone to cheat in any and every facet of life, expect more welfare from the government, accept sexual aberrations as normal, carelessly conceive and then kill babies in the womb, are less willing to defend our nation, produce ever greater numbers of high school graduates that are essentially uneducated, are an average of 40 pounds fatter than our ancestors, have created an unworkable, ineffective and obscenely costly legal system and waste more money on personal pleasure than we put aside in savings for our futures.

There's more, but I think you get the picture.

As an important adjunct to this rotten society, we have the "feel-good" movement (which is not something associated with the back seat of a car parked on Lover's Lane). We now waste extraordinary amounts of time redefining job titles, altering the names of ethnic groups, carelessly messing with our language and, in general, doing things of no value whatsoever but which make us feel good.

You've perhaps noticed that no one "works" for Wal-Mart. Rather, all employees are "associated" with that otherwise admirable merchandising business. Apparently "work" is, literally, a four-letter word. You may pay your workers just as though their titles were "worker," but by calling them "associates," they apparently feel better — which is what we're all about. Right?

Not so long ago, perhaps 2 percent of a class graduating from a top-rated high school walked out with scholastic honors. Today, it seems as though most of every person in a graduating class has achieved that exalted status, even though they may not be able to read and comprehend a bill for a utility or balance a check book. When schools pass out awards, they now must give one to every student, so that fragile psyches won't be bruised; thus is born the certificate for "Missing Fewer than 30 days in a Semester," or the trophy for Perfect (if inattentive and meaningless) Attendance.

Yes, we are awash in a polluted and caustic sea of meaningless titles, awards, tributes and name changes. The most recent example — and I think humorously absurd if it didn't adversely affect our national security — has to do with our comic-opera generals and admirals. There was a time when those so-called "star rank" officers had a modicum of modesty, a bit of ethical character and even a little time to devote to caring for their men and carrying out the mission. Today it seems they spend almost all of their unproductive time promoting their own careers, with precious little thought given to the nation they've sworn to defend with their lives. Think I'm being unjustifiably critical? Consider these verifiable facts:

General Dwight D. Eisenhower, whom although a mediocre officer, rose to command the invasion of Europe in World War II, wore only five of those colorful, campaign/decoration ribbons on his uniform. His current comparator, General John Graddock (have you ever heard of him?) covers his undeserving and self-aggrandizing chest with 20 or more ribbons, which represent far less achievement. Fleet Admiral Nimitz, whom I somewhat admire, wore only five ribbons, representing his awesome responsibilities and accomplishments in World War II. Today's pompous Admiral Michael Mullen (who's done what?) egotistically pins 22 or more on his typically meaningless uniform.

Yes, every walk of our life is affected by this disease of awarding medals, titles and awards to persons for next to nothing, in order to make them feel good. The end result is a further degradation of our national power — of our ability to accomplish meaningful objectives.

We may well be the first nation or civilization to fail, wither and die while feeling really good. Pin that on your inflated-but-hollow chest, general.

Of Cabbages and Kings is a regular feature of this paper. The author welcomes pertinent and relevant comments, which may be sent to him at john@have-eye.com.

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