[December 30, 2020] In late 1981, I received a call from a good friend, Stanley, who lives in Pennsylvania. He said, “You gotta watch this lady talking on the television.” Later, I discovered it was a Catholic nun that went by ‘Mother Angelica.’ She was tough. If you didn’t measure up, she would call you out quick. By her thinking, we are a bunch of wimps.
As we approach the end of the year, I thought perhaps this would be a good time to write about something that’s been on my mind for several years. I love America. I’m an American Patriot. But I’m also not blind to the fact that Americans are emboldened to be wimps.
America is the nation that tossed the Brit’s tea in Boston Harbor, crossed the continent in covered wagons, fought four major wars in the 20th century, went to the moon, and made every nation on earth envious of our intellectual, economic, and military prowess. What did the heck happen to us? Is it because our schools and families teach us to be wimps; weak, fearful, self-centered, and timid?
There is an article on the Townhall website that asks the same question.1 Why are we a bunch of wimps? The author, John Hawkins, writes that the United States is turning into a “wuss factory” that is turning out people who are offended by everything.
Mr. Hawkins blames it on the fact that fewer folks have served in the military, that our society has prospered economically to the point of decadence, that liberalism encourages wimpiness, etc. But, he says, “… the biggest problem we have is that we’re systematically teaching our kids to be wusses.” Read his article, and you’ll like it.
“Holiness is not for wimps, and the cross is not negotiable, sweetheart, it’s a requirement.” – Mother Angelica of the Annunciation
Mother Angelica was an extraordinary nun. She was what we needed back then in 1981 and what we need now. People need leadership, and Mother Angelica provided that leadership. Sadly, she passed away at age 92 in 2016. But, she left a legacy of Catholic philosophy that everyone can appreciate.
She did not suffer fools gladly, like so many of our institutions today that tolerate crime, drug use, and sexual “creativity.” Mother Angelica embraced forgiveness and compassion yet rejected pride, prejudice, hatred, and self-indulgence around ourselves that has become the go-to methodology of so many despotic governments that also encourages trashing of the Christian faith.
We live in a world that stresses personal goals, careers, and happiness. The emphasis is on the individual and how we can satisfy ourselves. But that is not the road to real happiness, for we remain and will be, for now, a community of wussies.
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Note: This article is part of a long-running series on leader trends. I recommend the reader use the search feature for hunting them down on my website.
Mostly, we are embolding CHEATERS. Joe Biden wins the presidency by cheating. West Point cadets win a commission by cheating. What else is there for us but to stand against cheating. Americans don’t like cheaters, period.
Sad, but true.
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We not only embolden wimps (the weak, effete, & cowards) but we put them on a victim pedestal of credibility. We are stupid for it.
We are a nation of wimps!
YES, YES, YES = we are making wimps and embolden them too.
My recommendation is that we kick some serious booty to 1) get their attention and 2) to change their minds thru the shame of having their butt kicked. If you are wondering who I’m writing about, just look around at and see the college snowflakes, the leftist terrorists (BLM and antifa), cowardly politicians, and “woke” liberal white women. Men, step up, we need you!
old warrior, you are just too much. I love it.
Are we making wimps wimpier?
Hey guys, I posted today my latest War Movie review. Today’s review is on the 1986 film “Heartbreak Ridge.” I’m a big Clint Eastwood fan any way, so here it is. Just click on this link: https://www.theleadermaker.com/war-movie-reviews/
Lynn, thanks for getting to this notice. I’m going to suggest that our readers occassionally check out the various tabs of my webpage. The layout is not the best but works pretty well. Thanks all for reading my blog.
For anyone who doesn’t believe what Gen. Satterfield has argued here, just go to any public school system. Right now the teachers don’t even want to be in the classroom. Yes, I”m quick to call them cowards but the problem is much deeper and that is why Gen. S claims that we actually encourage this kind of behavior. What a shame.
https://www.theleadermaker.com/?s=leader+trends
Or, just click on this link to see previous “leader trends” articles by Gen. S.
Once again, thanks Roger! I didn’t realize that there were so many. Boy do we encourage stupidity so much, who would have thunk!
Thanks Roger. Good link.
Good job on another practical article, so thanks. I will make a suggestion for a future article under your mini-series “Leader Trends.” The suggestion is to write about the destruction of social institutions … just pick any one of them and look at how they are being attacked.
Good suggestion.
Another exceptional article from Gen. Satterfield. Hey, thanks! But do we really embolden wimps? I think, YES. We do it in so many ways. But we also justify their existence to ourselves and thus not just embolden but create the circumstances where their character continues without remorse.
Hey Jonnie, you might be onto something here.
“Later, I discovered it was a Catholic nun that went by ‘Mother Angelica.’ ” You’ve been missing out without noticing it.
Gen. Satterfield, great article. So much to understand here. But, I believe that the question “what is the cause of the wimpiness?” is not the issue but the results of the wimpiness. Weak, effete men have been around since the beginning of mankind. What makes them less useful and less practical?
Yes, the answer is not so obvious. ✌
Randi and Tom, “what is the cause…?” implies that we should care and I don’t. I only care about the results and put my emphasis and practical solutions there.
You got that right. Manliness is no longer manliness. Manliness now means you are a toxic bumpkin. /sarc off
Yep!
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Let’s not miss the point of this article by Gen. Satterfield. He points out, correctly IMO, that we are NOT doing ourselves and others any favors by embolding wimps. Wimps are not the same as someone who is shy but someone who is pathetically morally and consciously weak. Intellect has little to do with it. Just my opinion.
Yes, we do embolden wimpiness. I see it all the time. If you are a wimp (meaning weak and ineffective), then we ‘love’ you. For those things we should be ashamed of being or doing, others see us as morally better than those who are better people. Hmmmmm, there may be something to that. Perhaps we call it the ultimate struggle.
“The Struggle” is characteristic of all major themes in human existence. I’m not being philosophical (like Gen. Satterfield always says) but practical. Without struggle, we are not who we are. We cannot “be” without the challenge. And therefore life cannot be about ‘happiness’ per se but about the satisfaction of success in overcoming a major ethical problem.
Wow, good comment guys. You are philosophers! Ha Ha. I don’t mean to laugh at you but at myself for not realizing that happiness is not the answer.