Peggy Noonan -- Be Better People

So, on a rather unsavory anniversary in American history -- five years after the January 6, 2021 debacle (is there any good word to describe the assault on the Capitol, ... I don't know), I am thinking about the feeling of the country in which I was raised, and the feeling that seems to be the standard now. Specifically, a lack of decorum, of manners, of simple good behavior. 

Many people begin a new year with a resolution to simply be better people. I know I do. In fact, I have a long-standing mantra that this is the year of "the kinder, gentler Michael ... the kinder, gentler Mr. Mazenko." I know that I am too often quick to judge and criticize rather than listen and empathize, and that will always be a growth area. But, I do believe I am generally a good guy who tries to do the right thing. 

And that doesn't seem as common anymore. Maybe it never was, but ...

Anyway, I'm not the only one who has general behavior and the temperament of contemporary society on the mind. Peggy Noonan, a columnist extraordinaire for the Wall Street Journal recently published a piece which suggests, "We Could Use a Return to Gallantry - WSJ":

I don’t want to sum up the year, outline hopes for 2026, predict or warn. I want to say we all have to become better people.

You won’t get through the future without faith, you won’t get through life without courage, and if you want courage to spread (and you do—you’re safer in a braver world) you have to encourage it, give it a lift, give it style. That’s what gallantry is, courage’s style. Its class, its shine and burnish. As a virtue it is close to my heart.

We live in a culture of winners who must win, and if the others don’t know you won then you must tell them, over and over, like Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez. We are the wealthiest and most glamorous, we are living the best lives, Amal Clooney’s on line one, the Pope’s on hold. Are you not impressed?

Gallantry never says it won.