IN AMERICA, IS THERE ANY 'WE' LEFT?

In keeping with an age when we seem obsessed with ourselves and especially with what we think about ourselves, the latest surveys ( Washington Post & Pew Center) breathlessly report what we think about the killing of Osama bin Laden. As if to say what we think-after-the-fact actually has a real bearing on the fact itself. Still, this self-indulgence is what most Americans like to call democracy. So for what it's worth, 72% of us "feel relieved," 60% "feel proud," 58% "feel happy," and 16% "feel afraid."

Not to mention the 100% of the chattering commentariat in the media who feel it their obligation to now psychoanalyze both the nation and its president as these pundits doggedly search for the "real story behind the story." Or to put it all another way, lately our society will dedicate about a thousand hours of talking to itself in the media for every one hour of actual national action.

The University of Kentucky tends to call this "America's narcissism." Research director Nathan DeWall analyzed the lyrics of Billboard's Hot 100 songs over the last three decades, finding "a steady increase in self-centeredness along with a growing hostility toward others." Whereas earlier songs were often about love, "recent hits are about what the individual wants, and how they have been disappointed or wronged."

The frequency of "I" and "me" versus "we" and "us" is clear. Words like "love" or "sweet" are far less common versus "hating" and "killing. Not surprisingly, self-centered plutocrats like Donald Trump take it upon themselves to speak for the nation, sharing with the little people the wisdom from such great people as themselves. A politician/celebrity habit whose narcissism can quickly snap back in their faces with the next headline.

Somewhat like the American economy now focuses more and more on virtual concepts while less and less on actual products, the American culture often seems more interested in thinking and talking about what it is thinking and talking about, rather than attaching itself to some collective national cause or consensus. The last time we saw such attachment may have been JFK's call to a"New Frontier." And before that, FDR's call to action against "the evils of dictators."

American leaders tried to portray bin Laden as the "new Hitler" in hopes of reviving some of that national passion. However -- in a time when black & white has given way to grays, and in which government is often considered a liar more than a leader -- there is little of that post-WWII jubilation over collective achievement. Instead, a very particularized America is now polled about what each particular segment of the population thinks about what it thinks about.

Is everyone in America now a Monday-morning-quarterback...? Is there anyone left to actually play quarterback...? And then when we elect someone to that role, is there ever a time when we stop talking and talking and talking, instead start listening and joining and doing...?