The Times of London once asked leading British intellectuals to write an essay answering this question, "What is wrong with the world?" G. K. Chesterton responded with a postcard,

     Dear Sirs,

     I am.

     Sincerely yours,

I think that's right. He is the problem. I mean, I am. (The former slips out so easily, doesn't it? Isn't the problem with the world everybody else?)

Chesterton's response challenges our modern Self-esteem philosophy. We're taught to build up our self-esteem, to feel we are worthwhile, to believe in our value.

Yet cracks are forming in the self-esteem movement. Loren Slater, a psychologist and writer, wrote a critique of self-esteem. In it she says,

There is enough evidence from 20 years of studies to conclude that people with high self-esteem pose a greater threat to people around them than people with low self-esteem, and low self-esteem is not the source of any of our country's biggest problems. (The Problem With Self-Esteem)

I think Chesterton would agree with Slater's observation, that "low self-esteem is not the source of any of our country's biggest problems."

Because we are.

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