Don Davis

Whom can we trust to tell us the truth? Advertisers want us to believe that their latest model automobile will make us powerful and popular, or that their "new and improved" grooming product will win us a whole new circle of friends. Political parties try to "sell" their candidates, and confused religious teachers offer a bewildering spectrum of contradictory promises and wild ideas.

Whether it is a politician accidentally talking into a "live" microphone, a parent berating a troubled child, or a boss haranguing fearful subordinates, how often have we heard a speaker blurt out a thoughtless or rash statement without considering the feelings and sensitivities of the hearers?

Not since World War II has the United States had to deal with a combination of so many potentially devastating problems. Unless there is some miraculous intervention from an "unseen hand," it seems the great American experiment – "government of the people, by the people and for the people" – may soon come crashing down in ignominy, adding its fallen glory to the dustbin of history where are found the ruins of the world's great empires.

Rescuers reaching the epicenter of China's 7.9 magnitude May 12, 2008 earthquake were met by scenes of horrific devastation. With bridges destroyed, and roads cut by landslides, soldiers had to hike to the remote city of Yingxiu in Wenchuan county, where they found just 3,300 survivors – 1,000 severely injured – from the town's population of 10,000.

How many of us, bombarded by advertisements for the latest luxury goods and services we cannot afford, have a tendency to think of ourselves as poor?