U.S. national flags fly at half-staff at the Washington Monument to mourn 1 million American lives lost to COVID-19 in Washington, D.C., the United States, on May 12, 2022. (Xinhua/Liu Jie)
"We lose touch with the big picture and with others. Our world becomes small," says the article.
NEW YORK, July 13 (Xinhua) -- From gun control, COVID-19 vaccination to clean energy, the United States is letting its ego grow despite the fact and the reality, said an opinion piece published by The Columbus Dispatch on Monday.
"The comic strip character Pogo from 50 years ago had it right. 'We have met the enemy, and he is us.' Our ego and self-interest are defeating us. Ego is crippling," said the article.
"Ego cripples our ability to handle difficult situations," said the article, noting that even worse, "ego craves attention, making us susceptible to manipulation. Ego seeks to protect itself. It limits our vision and seeks to confirm what it already knows."
"We lose touch with the big picture and with others. Our world becomes small," said the article, adding that "there is much anxiety about being right and concerted effort to convince others how right we are. Examples abound."
Ego is the "inner beast" that takes control and misinterprets whatever one hears, the force that would rather fight than resort to reason, and can cause a lot of trouble, it added. ■
