One of the difficulties of escaping from character disorder is most society is based upon it. It is the public way of life. It is the private way of life.

If something goes wrong in my life here are my options:

Public

It’s your fault

It’s the government’s fault

Private

It’s my spouse’s fault

It’s my parent’s fault

This even applies to whole nations. 20th century Christian thinker and political advisor Reinhold Neibuhr made this point when he applied this “rule” in international relations.

‘The other side is more right than you think they are and you are more wrong than you think you are. The trick is to find the truth in between.’

The next time we are quick to point “out there” to show where the challenges of life come from, perhaps some personal inventory is where to start.