SelfESTEEM or SelfLESS?

Self-Esteem, Selflessness and Freedom

John J. Lombardi

Ever feel like a "spiritual dinosaur"
when you talk about self-denial
while everyone else is chatting "self-esteem"?

…Do you feel tired or trapped by the "feel-good movements"
in today's culture?
…Had enough of the psychobabble engendered
by the self-esteem movements
in schools?

There's hope; consider:
"Last year alone there were three withering studies
of self esteem released in the U.S.,
all of which had the same central message:
people with high self esteem pose a greater threat
to those around them
than people with low self esteem,
and feeling bad about yourself
is not the cause of our country's biggest,
most expensive problems."

Lauren Slater wrote the above in a
New York Times Magazine article (Feb 3, 2002),
entitled,
"What's Wrong With Self Esteem"
(notably, she's a psychologist and therapist).

Other excerpts:


"Self esteem is overrated and… it may even
be a culprit
(to poor social skills) not a cure."

"Sometimes self esteem may be bad for your health…
Some therapists may be cultural retailers
for the self-esteem concept…

Sigmund Freud never (even) claimed we should be happy,
and he never claimed confidence was the key
to a life well lived."

Self-esteem movements have nearly conquered America
and the world-and parts of the Church.
From public-school textbooks to Catholic retreat centers
to eastern mysticism movements,
self-esteem has become a marketable movement
subduing both America's mind and money.

Why?-- Consider:
if you were marketing a product wouldn't you
sell something everybody wants:
happiness, feel-good sentiments, meaning in life,
belief in self?

Translated:
referring things, events, and personal relationships
around the self
provides an endless mental and metaphysical market
for various perpetrators to harvest and manipulate.