“Shame is the most powerful, master emotion. It’s the fear that we’re not good enough.” 

— Brene Brown

It’s true. We’re not good enough — not nearly good enough.

At far too many levels of our society, we have fallen too far from our traditionally high standards and we’re paying a dreadful price for our inadequacy.

When people aren’t good, that means bad things get a head start. Too many bad things, and everything starts mucking up. 

Between unscrupulous power-tripping national and local politicians marketing themselves as champions of humanity; irrational activists prioritizing glorified sympathies over realism; mainstream media outlets who think journalism is spelled e-n-a-b-l-i-n-g; and an uninformed, indifferent and conforming populace, we are busily wrecking paradise.

It need not be so. There are things buried in our muck that can be dug out and restored.

Shame in proper doses is a good thing — We are a shameless society. Whether it comes from society, our family, our friends or ourselves, a timely application of shame can force one to rethink bad behavior and reset to something better. Drug dealers should be shamed by everyone. People who start playing with drugs should be similarly addressed before they become lost in that world. People who don’t work; people who live in their parents basement, people who make babies they are not prepared to feed, raise or love; and people who selfishly milk government and, thus, the rest of us should be ashamed. It’s absolutely shameful to be a social predator of any type – even a dumb and pitiful one. Shame makes you try – too many people are socially permitted to not try.

 From one extreme to another — Most Americans have rightfully stopped hating on homosexuals, but then we’ve stepped beyond reason by unleashing sexual deviants, recruiting identity confused children into a lifetime gender-confusion script. We’ve correctly stopped calling substance-abusers ‘drunks” and gone to another extreme of giving addicts a get-out-of-jail-free card that has effectively taken personal responsibility out of recovery. Instead of working to uplift those who suffer economic, housing and other hardships, we’ve jogged over to another extreme in making them card-carrying members of the victims-are-us union, with an absolute indifference to the contributing realities of bad personal choices. What was once government by the people has become an arrogant, weaponized body of control freaks dedicated to running everything but themselves. As Rocky Balboa’s corner man once said, “Hit the one in the middle.” We’re allowing extremism to punchout level-headedness.

Politicians who lie, seduce and promise something for nothing — When it comes to leadership, we get what we earn — period. We expect our politicians to be dishonest, buy our vote, and promise us goodies without accountabilities. Watch and listen to the masterly manipulative rhetoric coming out of our local and national leaders. That America is increasingly stuck in the mud should be of no surprise. Witness our national debt for conclusive affirmation of how deep.

We’ve mucked up MLK’s example — The 1964 Civil Rights Act may not have been executed with perfection, but it was the right idea at the right time. Since then, racial provocateurs, anti-social activists masquerading as benefactors, naive white liberals seeking self-actualization, and self-serving politicians seeking votes have corrupted that milestone by ignoring, twisting and sabotaging it. Martin Luther King Jr. looked forward to a day when a man would be judged by his character, versus his color. People who advocate discrimination to counter discrimination are mocking everything this gentleman was about. If you want confirmation on the wisdom of never trusting government, witness Asheville and Buncombe County governments, as they try to take us back in time and bankroll programs embedded in racism and color over character.

The just rule of law matters — We live in a time where at every turn we face an army of rules, laws, regulations, restrictions and controls. That’s the kind of stuff that chokes the life out of a freedom-loving people. What makes it worse is that those decrees are enforced selectively, politically, ineffectively, timidly and inconsistently. A nation overrun by laws is ironically thus becoming lawless. Nothing is driving this reality home with more clarity than the current Trump witch-hunt. I’m personally drawn to conservative-minded public servants who walk what they talk — that makes me an early-on (Gov. Ron) DeSantis fan. Still, the never-ending leftist-led lack of legal system integrity is making it easier to overlook Donald Trump’s maturity challenges, unfulfilled promises and relentless negativity. Uncle Sam’s Deep-State Inc. is far more corrupt and dangerous than Trump could ever be. I smile every time I see that defiant mugshot — it means the rule of law is still up for grabs.

America is resilient — We are going to suffer going forward, but we can recover. It will take good people, loving people, courageous people and devoted people to dig us out of the muck.

If every conservative-minded person in America quit making excuses and voted for conservative candidates who walk their talk, we’d win everything that matters. 

Shoveling our way out starts locally. If you want to help, do more than talk — plan to vote. Talk a friend into doing the same.