All of us must live to character of nation
In the early 1970s, as I was leaving the Berkeley campus with my bachelor's degree, it was fashionable for social activists to question the investment practices of major financial institutions in the names of justice, equality and fair play.
The Vietnam War was winding down. Fewer Americans were being sent over to replace dead soldiers because there were fewer to replace, in comparison to the period prior to the 1968 Tet Offensive. Nearly 60,000 American men and women died to “liberate” South Vietnam from Ho Chi Minh. In retrospect it was an idea poorly conceived and executed.
The investigation into institutional investment practices was embarrassing to many organizations, not the least of which was University of California leadership. The portfolio was found to provide tacit support for apartheid in South Africa — another poorly executed idea.
The university — formerly a bastion of free speech, justice, equality and fair play — was behaving in a manner consistent with other institutions and persons of wealth. It was making convenience of enterprises leaders knew were morally indefensible.
The absurdity of the investments was no accident. It reflected a fundamental aspect of our national character, a profound split between what we say and think versus what we do.
Some years later it was learned that the Sierra Club, a foremost nature conservation and preservation group at the time, had owned stocks and bonds in Exxon, General Motors, Tenneco and some strip mining firms that made a practice of systematic degradation of the natural environment for profit.
This crisis of character we face today is evident in the political affairs of the present. It is almost impossible to locate a person in Congress, the executive branch or in the judiciary who is not bought and paid for by some commercial or ideological interest. This is particularly true for those on the extreme fringes of both major political parties, where it is obvious that representing the rank and file of the entire constituency is way down the list of priorities.
Incumbents tend to invent ways to protect themselves and their benefit packages, so just saying “vote them all out” ignores the realities of minority rule and the challenges of protecting democracy from its dark side.
Michael Ross' book “Overcoming the Character Deficit: How to Restore America's Greatness One Decision at a Time” asks the rhetorical question, “what happens when we lose sight of the impact of our choices?”
In theory, everything we do every day has consequences, and the more aware of that fact we are, the better the lives we will lead. That's the core concept of the book.
Ross writes that character is a variation on the Greek term, charakter, the literal meaning of which is “the stamp of a coin.” In this country, our coins feature the faces of people we consider some of our greatest public figures: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Franklin D. Roosevelt. For better or worse, the character of these men shaped our nation.
The penny says, “honest, perseverant and humble.” The nickel says “creative, diplomatic and competent.” The dime says “resolve, relationships and patience.” The quarter says “courage, fortitude and honor.”
These are innately powerful ideas. They have left a mark on America. Ordinary people do not often think of themselves as courageous, honorable or competent. But what if we did, and what if we demanded these standards of each other, our leaders at work, in elective office and in corporate boardrooms?
It is self-evident that there is a character deficit in our country and the world today. There are serious flaws among the institutions that we rely on to unite the various factions that exist in politics, health care, education, commerce, news media, in faithbased organizations and in the arts and entertainment.
How do we fix the damage that has been done? Ross tells us that each of us is not as important as all of us, and that we need to reintroduce character as an anchoring concept in our lives. No one person has all the answers and we probably cannot rely on many of the people who are in positions of power today. In replacing them and moving forward, we need to take action in a manner compatible with reasoned, mature, responsible decision making. That's the American way.