The god of Significance Part 2

[singlepic id=35 w=560 h=420 float=]Have you ever seen the movie, “The Incredibles.” I watched it again after my first post because it really deals with this struggle deep within the American consciousness that just being an insurance customer service employee is far from right especially when you used to be a super hero. The idea that second place is really first loser. The idea that trying not to win is somehow intimately tied to our lack of integrity.

I’m assuming that you are like me and this may be a really bad assumption, but I think it is steeped in our American psyche. When someone plays a prank on me I have always lived by the motto, “I don’t get even. I get ahead.” It’s why little pranks often escalate to the point where real physical and emotional harm is done. We can’t let anyone think that they got us.

It’s why we won’t pull out of Afghanistan or Iraq as losers. It’s why we weren’t willing to take the destructive acts of 9/11 on the chin, but had to one up those who had planned it with a display of shock and awe on a people, who by majority, did nothing to us.

It’s why we take ourselves so seriously, refuse to laugh at our mistakes, and refuse to allow our children to do anything but impress. It’s why my response to the prankster fails to be, “Man you really got me, that was awesome!”

There will be a Part 3…