Two ways to greatness – Improvement and Diminishment

When I was in school a D was considered barely passing. You’d get a D if your grade on a test or assignment was 65%-69%. It wasn’t failing but it wasn’t good by any stretch of the imagination.

So let’s imagine a scenario – you got a 68% on a test. The person next to you didn’t do so hot either – they barely got by with a 65%. They have been struggling all year, asking for help. They don’t get the help they need though. There are rumors about this classmate – that they are do drugs, that their family has a violent history, that they cheat (although they clearly aren’t good at it given the D). These rumors are pretty well known by most of the student body, and even the teachers. There’s no evidence for any of it though. Just rumors. Regardless, both of you got a D. How’s it feel to be pretty much the same as the supposed cheater?

There’s at least two directions that this can go. For the sake of simplicity, let’s narrow in on two. First, you could go to the teacher and tell them that you saw your classmate cheating. You could come up with a whole elaborate story about how this classmate cheated, playing into the rumors. You might even craft some kind of paper forgery to show. It depends on how creative you want to be. The teacher buys your story and turns the D into an F. Your grade doesn’t change. But at least you are better than that rotten cheater who sits next to you. Maybe you can figure out a way to get them removed from the class too.

The end result: You’re better than your neighbor because you figured out a way to diminish them. Nothing actually improved for you. But you get to feel superior. Never mind that you are still barely hanging on in class. Never mind that you really haven’t learned the material. Never mind that your D is still a D.

The other option is to ask the teacher for help – telling them that you are struggling with the class material. And you notice that some of the other students are too. You ask if the teacher can give some more time to the topics covered. Is there a tutor you can utilize. Maybe you form a study group with other students who are struggling. Maybe you are able to tap into some A students to help you out?

The end result: You’re more likely to improve your grade – probably gradually. The next test might be in the 70’s. That’s going to feel like a big win. It’s moving you in the right direction. And if you did this with other students, then it’s likely that they are probably testing better too. Slowly, but improving. You are actually improving, and you didn’t have to diminish anyone else in order to do it.

In our country, we seem hell-bent on moving towards greatness by diminishing others so we can feel better about our own crappy unchanged situation. I don’t think this is anything new though. It’s been going on for a long time. This is just the latest iteration of it.

Deportation raids do nothing to improve the lives of citizens. They only feed into our xenophobia about other people. They diminish others and we gain nothing.

The Executive Order titled “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government” does nothing to improve the lives of women. It only diminishes transgendered people. Diminish others, and no one actually gains anything.

Signing an executive order ending birthright citizenship does nothing to improve the lives of anyone. It only diminishes people. And no one gains anything.

Exiting the Paris Climate Agreement does nothing to improve the lives of citizens. It ignores the reality of climate change and the high costs associate with ignoring this problem – all for some short term corporate profits. But those will burn away pretty quickly. It only diminishes the health of people. Even the people who profit from the move will end up suffering the results.

Instituting tariffs on Canada and Mexico does nothing to improve the lives of citizens. It just makes everything more expensive. Tariffs have never worked. It only diminishes people’s lives, their buying power, and our international relationships. No one gains anything.

In the midst of all of this, how have people’s lives actually improved? How do any of these things actually move us in the direction of actually, improving lives? They don’t. Granted, it’s been less two weeks. But these things and similar actions have been tried before. We know the results. We don’t move in the direction of improvement. As I said, none of this is new.

If you actually want to improve lives, you invest in people. You remove barriers. You educate. You celebrate small advances. You build trust. You learn. You help. And you experience the results. But that’s a whole lot harder. It takes time. It takes energy. It takes being vulnerable. It takes apologizing when you screw up. It takes humility. It takes give-and-take. It recognizes our limitations.

As a nation, we’ve chosen a path of diminishment. As individuals and communities, we can choose improvement in spite of it.