An administration that thinks and acts as a child
John A. McKinnon IHT
Wednesday, September 17, 2003
Analyze this
MARION, Montana Troubled teenagers fail at the
tasks of a modern adolescence because they try to
solve sophisticated problems with an
unsophisticated approach whose elements
routinely include a childish sense of time, lack of
empathy, florid narcissism, selfish ethics and
concrete logic.
They are usually not stupid, nor ill - not the kids
I'm talking about. But they fail across the board -
at school, at home and among their peers -
because their approach is childish.
I point this out because I want to talk about
adults, and specifically about the Bush
administration and its "approach."
Temporarily (under stress) or chronically (for those
who never grew up), adults can think like
immature teen-agers. To persuade you, I'll
describe this flawed approach:
Present and Future: Immature teen-agers think
the future a destination to be reached by magical
thinking. They want to "be" astronauts, but see no
reason to do tonight's algebra assignment.
Present and Past: Immature teen-agers think the
past a fairy tale not usefully connected to the
present. You can't teach them history.
Lack of Empathy: Immature teen-agers treat
"friends" with consideration, but only if they dress
the same way and can be imagined to think and
feel "just like me."
Narcissism: Immature teen-agers are selfish,
self-preoccupied, self-oriented and self-important.
If they want it, they think they're entitled to have
it. And so they don't need to ask, and if they ask
they don't think the answer has any business
being no, and if it's no they are entitled to badger,
bully, blackmail, bribe or or attack to compel
compliance. For there is only one person in the
relationship - "me."
Selfish Ethics: Troubled teen-agers often think
they ought to be allowed to do as they like and
take what they like, and that it's all right to do so
if they can get away with it. In pursuit of
self-interest, they are shameless.
Concrete Logic: Immature teen-agers are so
impressed that they no longer believe in the Tooth
Fairy that they congratulate themselves for
"realism" when they ignore (because they don't
yet understand) mature ethical abstractions such
as honor, tolerance, integrity, the environment, or
the good of our community. Mistaking metaphor
for literal fact, they have little sense of humor, but
insist upon concrete interpretation of rules and
other texts, even when such concreteness betrays
the spirit of those rules.
I have no wish to be rude, and I recognize that
neither political party has a monopoly on
childishness. But I can't help seeing in this
description a synopsis of the Bush
administration's approach.
Whether the administration is talking about
medical care or tax cuts, homeland security or
social welfare, energy or the environment,
democracy (in Florida, California, Iraq or the West
Bank) or the separation of church and state, or
the liberty of citizens and the rights of prisoners
under the Constitution, the approach has been
arrogant, self-important, unempathic, careless of
the future and ethically primitive.
In this election season, the maturity of our
approach to national and international affairs
ought to take priority over party, class, race,
region, creed or personality. Inasmuch as the
maturity of our leadership is an American issue, it
should unite us.
We might even agree that we need an approach
that includes clear, plausible goals embedded in
coherent, fully debated plans before actions are
taken that affect our children's lives, our
resources and our honor; a firm grasp of history's
haunting of the present, its constraints upon
future options; true empathy, not patronizing
sentimentality, for those not like us; respect for
others and other nations; a social ethic that soars
above greedy immediate self-interest; a quiet
respect for integrity, separateness, privacy and
liberty, and a sense of humor, irony and humility.
Why does this matter so much?
First, because a childish approach fails. It doesn't
even work for high school sophomores. There is no
reason to think it will work for our nation.
Second, because even in high school others
despise strutting narcissism, personal obtuseness,
bullying relationships and selfish ethics. Faced
with arrogance and selfishness, others refuse to
help us, passively resist, applaud our humiliation
and disdain all those associated with that
arrogance.
As we come up to elections for legislative seats and
for the office of president, let's put aside
partisanship so as to rise above party labels and
disgraceful sound bites. Let's see if, together, we
can elect and re-elect those who think and behave
like adults.
The writer, a psychiatrist, is co-founder and
chairman of Montana Academy, a residential
school for troubled adolescents in Montana.
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