I’ve been hearing and reading a lot these days about one particularly painful symptom of the currently awful economy. It’s the fact that many people who long worked hard, earned decent middle class standards of living for themselves and their families, are now not only suffering the pains and anguish of lost jobs and hard times generally, but feeling a loss of self-worth. They somehow feel guilty, in other words, about what they are forced to do to survive.
That just ain’t right.
There are, of course, some people who may deserve a reduced self-worth feeling. They spent too much foolishly in the past. They never put much effort into building careers that should rightfully sustain an American standard of living. I’m not talking about these folks here, however.
I’m talking about the millions and millions of Americans who played fair, worked hard, and still find themselves out of work and up against it generally. Why the heck should they blame themselves for their present situations? Why should their self-worth be challenged?
When it rains, everyone without a big enough umbrella gets wet. No need to feel guilty or worthless about that. When for so very many the walls are closing in, why feel guilty or less worthy if you find yourself up against the wall?
I really do wish I were hearing more of a rational show of moral support, from our political class. Instead, one group of pols still twaddle away that things are really getting better because economist number crunchers have discerned recent economic improvements (Democrats). While another group of pols still twaddles away that if we merely cut taxes further on the rich everyone will soon feel just super (Republicans).
No, there’s no need to feel guilty or lose a sense of self worth. It’s not your fault. It’s not my fault. It’s their fault.
We can only hope that some time soon someone in this ossified and ever personally entitled political class comes up with some new ideas to really deal with a tragic new situation about which they currently seem either oblivious, powerless, or disparaging.
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