The Ethos

 

Today, the ethos, or the environment, of the United States is energetic, though worried, slightly morose, sometimes irritated, and yet darkly hopeful.  Individual citizens may be in better shape, but this is the overall tendency in our country now — uncertainty and dissatisfaction.  

The matter of what to do tirs people together in a similar attitude. There is cynicism about the ability of the average person to do anything about the sorry state of the economy. And yet, there is discomfort with the cynicism, too.

Cynicism is the lowest form of apathy. A step above cynicism is pessimism. A step above pessimism is being noncommittal – not caring one way or the other. Beyond that, as we travel up, we get to the happier states. But most people are Lower than the happier states, and with reason.

And yet there is in the American spirit a drive toward excellence, a desire for what is right and just. At this point in history, it is firmly embedded in our DNA. As we begin the week of the 250th anniversary of the declaration of independence, America is in process– increasingly, in process.

Like a wheel on a Conestoga wagon, things go, and the country eventually comes around. We will see this again, surely. But before arriving at our destination, there must be many turns of the wheel.  For as the road turns, the wheel turns with it. Happy journeying, America.