Editor’s Note: Day 135 of the Great Con II. Never in the history of the United States have we fallen so low in the eyes of the world. Stay vigilant. Stay involved.

The American Spirit is one of those terms we hear all of our lives. It is something that exists as a metaphor or an ideal. The word rugged comes to mind and images of buffaloes and Theodore Roosevelt. But I also think on the men in my family who served country and served others in careers and worked all their lives. They may never have mentioned the term, but they modeled whatever that spirit is.

I’ve been mulling this over in the assumption that there is some common ground out there. Memorial Day was this week, and the term of American Spirit was used considerably and freely to define the moment. At least when it comes to remembering those who serve, we all recognize there is something there.

If there’s one thing I know this spirit is not, it is not the attempts we see to rebrand it. It’s not greed, it’s not being loud, or even in some cases, it’s not about being right.

I remember being at church one Sunday. A fellow churchgoer knelt in prayer, his head bowed in apparent humility. I knew this man in my regular life. By Monday, he was back in his suit, lobbying to gut public services and deregulate industries, even printing a glossy magazine with his photo on the cover, popping champagne to celebrate another year of “success.”

The disconnect between the search for the spirit and the reality of one’s work is often jarring to me, but it’s not rare. It’s a microcosm of a deeper malaise-a corrosion not just of ethics, but of the very spirit that once defined America. So again I return to the question:

What, exactly, is the American spirit?

How did we arrive at a place where the open corruption we are witnessing is so commonplace that we barely flinch when our leaders engage in it? Or closer to home, the sight of a man who praises Christ one day and works against the struggles of his neighbors the next?

To understand what is being lost, we must first define what is at stake.

The American spirit is not a mere slogan or marketing device. Historically, it has been about great achievements and profound acts of solidarity. The obvious analogy with war during memorial day is of a spirit willing to give up everything for a cause. The pursuit of a common good. That’s important to recognize.

George Washington’s willingness to lead the military in a revolution was one part of the spirit. His was a willingness to die in battle or as a traitor to England, but it was also his refusal to become a king of the new country. It was also Thomas Jefferson’s faith in education as a path to equality, Abraham Lincoln’s vision of a more perfect union, and Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream of justice for all.

At its core, the American spirit is a moral proposition: treat others as you would have them treat you. This “Golden Rule” was the spiritual aspiration of the Founders, even if not always the reality of their time. It is a spirit rooted in a belief in inherent goodness-not just for oneself, but for others, regardless of background or circumstance. It’s why we value our veterans on memorial day, because they represent that spirit of regard for others.

Our American remains an attempt to build a society where freedom is balanced with responsibility, and where opportunity is matched by empathy.

But this American spirit is a fragile thing. When it is replaced by the current levels of cynicism, self-interest, zealotry, and the relentless pursuit of material gain at the expense of the common good, the result is not just political or economic decline, but spiritual decay. The one thing never mentioned, never shown, when thinking on the American spirit is dollar signs. The making of money. That greed is good.

Wealth has become an end in itself, and the ethics of how you arrived there has become secondary. This imbalance is evident in companies that market harmful products to consumers, in legal strategies that exploit misfortunes for profit, in HR departments that prioritize corporate protection over employee welfare, and in political operatives who celebrate victories achieved at the expense of the vulnerable. The result is a society where relationships are transactional, truth is malleable, and success is defined not by contribution, but by accumulation.

This is a form of spiritual corruption: a societal shift from aspiring to justice and mutual care to rewarding deception, punishing trust, and viewing fellow citizens as targets to exploit or sue. The consequences of spiritual corruption are evident everywhere. People leave jobs and are shocked when former colleagues vanish from their lives, exposing the transactional nature of the current workplace. Communities fracture along lines of class, race, and ideology, attending their own churches and schools and listening to their own brand of news. Public institutions, once relied upon to serve the common good, are now viewed as tools for personal gain and exploitation. The legal system, originally designed to protect rights, has become a battleground for zealotry rather than delivering justice.

America has not reached the point of no return, but the warning signs are unmistakable. If we continue to normalize current behaviors and treat others as mere resources to exploit and allow the pursuit of profit to overshadow justice and compassion, we risk becoming a nation that has the appearance of freedom but none of the real spirit.

Regardless of beliefs or religious affiliation, the most workable solution is to revive the Golden Rule—not just in private life but also in public policy, business, and civic engagement. It demands higher standards from leaders, institutions, and individuals.

To whom much is given, much is required.

The American spirit is not extinguished, but it is certainly under siege.

When your time comes, when opportunity shows itself, remember what the true American spirit means.

There’s one piece of this article that I’ve seen over three decades of work, and I think the younger generation is pushing against it:

“Companies run on insecure overachievers who prioritize work above all else. Often, it only ends up serving the company.”

Places of work need to remember the human element and not get caught up in the mind-numbing routines and procedures that turn productive work into a pain. The introduction of AI will help with this but only if done with the perspective of supporting human needs first. And I’m against some of the advice I see that tell you not to build trust and relationships with the people you work with. That’s actually inhuman. This is more a reflection of out-of-control liability interests, and juvenile delinquents in positions of leadership.

That doesn’t mean to be less human.

We spend so much of our waking life working, if you can find a few friends along the way in the hallways or on the beat or during the drive, hell yes, make some friends.

There’s some good tips from the author and it’s a nice, fun read.

Here’s what I like about this article. It’s yet another indicator that every major discipline runs through periods of a lack of self-reflection. I’ve seen it in every field I’ve been in. In education, you have teachers spending more time on discipline than actual teaching. In conservation, you have whole populations hardly represented. In public health, you have prevention efforts still being scrutinized and minimized despite their cost effectiveness. Economics especially has been slow in evolving. We have a market that has so far been able to withstand the whipsaw of a petty tyrant, but it’s also a market that is full of waste and poverty.

As the author points out, price caps should be part of the public policy mix, most especially if there is proof that companies take advantage of hard times and raise prices not because they need to, but because they can. Without good public policy, the market isn’t serving the interests of We the People.

I’ve written in several issues now on how the effort to squash Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) is an empty and un-American effort. It is simply the latest tool used to distract and consolidate holds on people.

Stories like this one are why an advancing society never attempts to erase its history, but to learn from it. What I long ago realized is that modern education gives us only a taste of our history, and even then, there is too much sugar blended in to make it palatable. History is a lifelong pursuit and a good method for recognizing dangers that have been seen before. Treating adults like children to only handle certain narrations instead of the truth is bizarrely backwards.

And Now….

I’ve begun more reading into the European side of WWII in preparation for a trip abroad. No matter how much I’ve learned over the years, there is always something remaining to be discovered. And to be in the places that I’ve read about all my life, that’s real magic.

Never stop being curious.

Get your own summer reading going, continue to practice your gratefulness, and remember: Be a good human.