There is No Shame in a Culture Where We Make Everything Up!
By now, just about everyone has heard about the massive campaign of lies that Republican George Santos fabricated that just got him elected to a congressional seat from New York.
In his various appearances and interviews to explain himself, the lack of shame he seems to feel is almost as uncanny as the lies themselves.
Sadly, Santos is a child and product of the troubling and, yes, dangerous state of affairs in our nation today.
A friend sent me a short cartoon version of Hans Christian Andersen's tale, "The Emperor's New Clothes."
The shyster weavers convince the vain emperor that there really are clothes when in fact there is nothing. They convince him that only fools and those unqualified in their work can't see the fabric.
The only thing on anyone's mind is what others think of them. There is no truth, only appearances.
Until one naive and unindoctrinated child steps forward and tells the truth that the emperor is naked.
It's what happens when people become unmoored and lose a sense that there is something called reality, something bigger than themselves, of which they are a part.
A vital part of a child's development is learning they are not the center of the world. That there are others, and they must be aware of the line where they end and others and the world outside begin.
In traditional cultures, there are rites of passage where children formally become adults and assume the responsibilities of adults.
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