Hubris

This word is misunderstood by most. It means the opposite of humility. Hubris is the act of projecting confidence in the face of odds unrealistic to the situation. Racism is hubris. It is a personal sense of feeling better than a person of another race or nationality. Equal in all other respects, the racist remains confident in his/her superiority.


Hubris. Feeling right and superior.


The opposite is humble. Humility accepts the self - ourself - as flawed and lesser than. Humble doesn’t mean meek or weak. Rather, it is courageous in accepting our imperfectness in a complex world.


Hubris is avowing positions on Tweeter, Instagram, Facebook or any other social media site. Asserting political and ideological thoughts totally without regard to logic, fact, truth or history.


We have a president who tweets several times a day. His inner thoughts and feelings about everything under the sun. he gives up national secrets. He broadcasts racism, anger and discrimination frequently. He stirs up trouble. He intentionally does this.


I suppose we will need a law written to specifically bar all future presidents from communicating with the nation other than by strictly controlled media channels. That would force the current president to communicate carefully through layers of experts who know much more than he on so many issues.


Any leader must be credible. This president is not. He has misspoken so often, and so intentionally that we cannot believe what he says. He is an actor on a large stage ad libbing his way through his term. Clearly this is unacceptable. For him. For us. For the global village.


Hubris is not just a trump manifestation, though. No, hubris is a character trait shared by vast numbers of people. If you think you are the only one who thinks correctly, you suffer hubris. If you do not open yourself to other venues of information and logical thinking, you have hubris.


Humility is one of those not so secret powers that allows us to be much more than we are. It is gained from maturity. It is gained from thinking things through. It takes time to do things right. Same with thinking. And concluding. It allows us to admit we might be wrong while we try to get it right.


Do we dare tell the white house this secret? Would anyone there listen?


July 5, 2020