MAN, THE MEASURE:

Poor Richard's New Year: Is it peculiarly American to want to make yourself a better person? (Edmund S. Morgan, 12/31/02, NY Times)

Is it peculiarly American to want to make yourself a better person?

Do people in other countries begin the New Year with a set of resolutions to get up earlier, cut down on drinking, stop smoking and lose weight? Do they energize themselves with books telling them how to be their own shrinks? Do people in, say, Italy or France, think they need to reform themselves annually? Surely not the French. Are bookstores in other countries filled with titles like "Fire up Your Life," "Dare to Win," "Your Road Map to Lifelong Happiness" and, yes, "Overcoming Anxiety for Dummies"?

Perhaps it is basic to our national character, this habit of giving ourselves instructions for living right. Benjamin Franklin, who has long stood as the exemplar of everything good and bad about Americans, formulated some detailed instructions for himself and his country that are still worth considering.

It seems worth noting, though the great Mr. Morgan fails to do so, that what Franklin was essentially trying to do was claim godhood for himself, even to the point of issuing his own commandments (even beating the Big Guy by three). This is, of course, the fatal weakness of atheism/agnosticism, if each of us is a god then no behavior is barred us and we've no way of knowing how others will behave. Because every man is not a Franklin, you end up with anarchy. Posted by Orrin Judd at January 1, 2003 10:11 AM