Man in the Mirror

Americans used to be a people who tried to better themselves. We understood that we had flaws, and worked on those flaws to improve ourselves to become better people. And those improvements were found through introspection, and increasing our self-awareness. We looked at ourselves, and discovered our short comings, and worked to improve them.

We always believed we were a work in progress, striving to improve ourselves, whether it was through our faith, spirituality, or personal growth; we turned to our religion, yoga, meditation, Zen, self-help programs, education, you name it. We tried to transcend our material existence, and tap into something beyond the mundane and profane of daily life. People went out to find themselves because they acknowledged that they were not a finished product, and they had more to learn, and much room to grow.

People didn’t wear their virtue, their righteousness on their sleeves, or post it on social media (there wasn’t social media back then). And those who did put their virtue on display, were dismissed as the frauds and hypocrites they most often were. Those who genuinely tried to improve themselves, did so, not to gain social credit, or false virtue; they did it for its own inherent good.