70 Years along the Road to Character

by Tom Campbell, Executive Producer and Moderator, NC SPIN, August 14, 2015.

Seventy years ago on August 14, 1945, America and its Allies observed V-J Day, the end of World War II. As we remember all those who sacrificed and contributed to this effort it is fitting to consider where we’ve come from and where we are today.

David Brooks, the New York Times, syndicated columnist has just released a new book called, The Road to Character. He begins the book by recounting the replay of a nationwide radio broadcast that aired the day after V-J Day. Singer Bing Crosby opened the star-studded broadcast by saying that, while everyone could thank God it was over, “Today, our deep down feeling is one of humility.” Actor Burgess Meredith quoted a passage from a column written by legendary war correspondent Ernie Pyle, “We did not win it because destiny created us better than all other people. I hope that in victory we are more grateful than proud.”

We’ve all seen the pictures in Times Square of the sailor kissing a total stranger. All across the country huge crowds gathered to rejoice and celebrate, but the mood of the country reflected the comments of Crosby and Pyle. People in this country, “…didn’t go around telling themselves how great they were,” Brooks says. “Their first instinct was to remind themselves they were not morally superior to anyone else. Their collective impulse was to warn themselves against pride and self-glorification. They intuitively resisted the natural human tendency to excessive self-love.” Each knew they had been part of something great but each understood themselves to be the “Little Me” that recognized they were only a part of that success.

Over the past 70 years we’ve traveled a road of great change, especially a change in the character of this country. I suspect those from that “Greatest Generation” would barely recognize today’s culture in comparison to the one in which they lived.

We are no longer that “Little Me” but have transformed to what David Brooks calls the “Big Me.” Our narcissistic, self-indulgent, self-important, me first culture can hardly spell humility, much less respect it as a virtue. We get education to learn how to compete in the workplace, not to discover how to be good people and satisfy our inner beings. The competition to succeed, make money and have things is so great that we don’t have time to consider the qualities of character we admire and desire. We seldom treat others, whether those of our race or place or not, with respect, especially those who disagree with us. No wonder most of us are constantly restless and are never satisfied, no matter how much we have or what recognition we receive.

The great accomplishments made in this country were largely the result of people working together, each playing their part, none feeling overly important. We should be grateful to live in the greatest time in the greatest nation on earth, humbly acknowledging that we stand on the shoulders of those who came before us, especially remembering those who made such great sacrifices in World War II and other conflicts. We should once again be more grateful than proud.

This is a proper time for self-examination and reflection, asking ourselves where are we on the “Road to Character?”