The article is about the nexus of more superiority and insecurity. Certainly the US has a large dose of moral superiority, but I don't see a lot of evidence of insecurity in the US. If anything, there's a surplus of hubris.
Interesting distinction. But I wonder whether (a) an attitude of moral superiority might not in itself be evidence of insecurity and (b) whether hubris--at least under some definitions--might not itself evidence insecurity in that it is "presumptuous" pride. I am not a psychologist--or even a Greek scholar--but insecurity seems almost universal to me, maybe even even most among people who assert certainty of superiority.
I don't think there is as much feeling of moral superiority these days... more a sense that American is broken and taking down the rest of the world with it.
I spent some time in an apartment in Moscow in the 1990s. The smell in the hallways was awful. The apartment had no smell at all. The cliche/joke that Moscow residents open their windows in October because the heat is otherwise unbearable is true (was true then). The apartment was tiny. The bathroom was the most broken down thing I have ever seen. However, it did have more hot water than I have even seen. Moscow had real food problems (back then).
I went back to Russia after 2000. Things had improved a lot. The traffic (from more prosperity) was intense. No shortage of food was evident.
Moral superiority is the primary tool of tyrants who are generally driven by innate insecurity. This is otherwise known as the bully. And with this, Putin has the most in common with the Western left. Their drift toward authoritarianism and violence is directly related to their feeling they are losing. So what do you do? Stomping their neck is one solution.
I was waiting for a description of American moral superiority and how it, too, damages our standing in the world.
The article is about the nexus of more superiority and insecurity. Certainly the US has a large dose of moral superiority, but I don't see a lot of evidence of insecurity in the US. If anything, there's a surplus of hubris.
Interesting distinction. But I wonder whether (a) an attitude of moral superiority might not in itself be evidence of insecurity and (b) whether hubris--at least under some definitions--might not itself evidence insecurity in that it is "presumptuous" pride. I am not a psychologist--or even a Greek scholar--but insecurity seems almost universal to me, maybe even even most among people who assert certainty of superiority.
I don't think there is as much feeling of moral superiority these days... more a sense that American is broken and taking down the rest of the world with it.
I am sorry, Mr. Lee. I do not think you and i live on the same planet.
Maybe not. There is a lot of that going around.
I spent some time in an apartment in Moscow in the 1990s. The smell in the hallways was awful. The apartment had no smell at all. The cliche/joke that Moscow residents open their windows in October because the heat is otherwise unbearable is true (was true then). The apartment was tiny. The bathroom was the most broken down thing I have ever seen. However, it did have more hot water than I have even seen. Moscow had real food problems (back then).
I went back to Russia after 2000. Things had improved a lot. The traffic (from more prosperity) was intense. No shortage of food was evident.
Moral superiority is the primary tool of tyrants who are generally driven by innate insecurity. This is otherwise known as the bully. And with this, Putin has the most in common with the Western left. Their drift toward authoritarianism and violence is directly related to their feeling they are losing. So what do you do? Stomping their neck is one solution.