Humbledness is all around these days. I don't mean humility, a quality as rare as a cogent thought in Congress. No, certainly not that. I'm talking Humbledness, the state of being Humbled, the fashionable label that everyone's wearing. The American flag pin of successful newsmakers.
Humbled to join you in observing this National Day of Prayer. We are truly blessed to live in a nation that cherishes religious liberty. -- Ted Cruz tweet, 5/2/13
But only successful newsmakers. You'd think that politicians who lose big, or reporters who get a story wrong, or scientists who predict comets that don't show up, would express humbledness, but they don't seem to.
Traditionally, the experience of humbledness had been reserved for losing sports teams, along with getting shellacked, edged, rolled over, snuck past, shocked, surprised, triumphed over, vanquished, defeated, crushed, destroyed, walloped, cut off at the knees, and annihilated.
But now, winning teams and players have usurped humbledness from the losers. If you get inducted into a hall of fame, if you're mentioned as a possible Heisman Trophy winner; if you're a former star asked to join the management team of two soccer clubs, you're required to be humbled, or the last case, very humbled.
This leads to the question: If the winners are humbled, what are the losers?
Being humbled to get an honor no doubt started as a way of saying "I don't really deserve this" without actually saying it. That was surely the case when a very surprised President Obama spoke right after he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2009, not even a year into his presidency. He made that point explicit in his formal acceptance speech, as have other Nobel peace prize recipients.
Obama's reaction makes sense -- though if he was "humbled" to receive the award, what should Henry Kissinger's reaction have been when he won it 1973 after five blood-soaked years replete with war crimes?
But the Nobel shorthand has morphed into a tsunami. Now it's apparently considered bad taste to accept any honor without insisting you don't deserve it. Even if you've worked your ass off and sacrificed and studied and sweated, you can't just say you're honored or grateful when you win the Littletown North Regional Dance Off. No, you have to suggest that you're but a worthless worm with no sense of rhythm who only won because everyone felt sorry for you.
I want to thank everyone who encouraged me to run [for President]. Their words and continued support have been deeply humbling. -- Paul Ryan 1/12/15
People are now humbled if they win anything from a
Pulitzer to a leadership
award, are asked to be
patrons of homeless kitchens ("incredibly humbled" in that case), even if they win the
Lotto. Though being humbled to win the Lotto does make sense if you (a) believe in God, b) believe that She personally selects the Lotto winner rather than just leaving it to chance, and (c) believe that She doesn't care for rich people.
In 2013 David Brooks taught a course in "humility" at Yale. The syllabus included a lot of his own writings. Now that's humbledness.
Then you get Rep Mike Honda, who was humbled by receiving messages of support after he tweeted that his granddaughter is transgender. He was also understandably heartened. But what's humbling about the support? Surely he's not saying his granddaughter doesn't deserve it?
In any event, proud is completely out. Indian childrens' rights advocate Kailash Satyarthi won the Nobel Peace Prize (shared with Malala Youfsafzai) in 2014 and tweeted
Humbled to dedicate the Nobel Prize to my Nation.
You can feel you don't deserve the award, I get that, but wouldn't you be proud to dedicate it to your country?
You know the King of The Humble -- or in his case, the King of The Umble? This guy:
That's Uriah Heep, one of the most famous villains in literature, David Copperfield's sworn foe. His umbleness is a cynical cover for his hatred, his lust for power, and his crimes.
"When I was quite a young boy," said Uriah, "I got to know what umbleness did, and I took to it. I ate umble pie with an appetite.... 'People like to be above you,' says father, 'keep yourself down.' I am very umble to the present moment, Master Copperfield, but I've got a little power!'"
Did you believe John Boehner when he said he was humbled by the GOP's gains in 2014? Mitt Romney when he was humbled to win the Republican Presidential nomination in 2012? Paul Ryan when he was humbled by getting to run with Romney?
Thank the gods I couldn't find any recent references to Hillary Clinton or Elizabeth Warren or Harry Reid being humbled, but I'm afraid Nancy Pelosi has gone there.
The tattered fig leaf of self-advertised humbleness doesn't fool anybody. It doesn't conceal the qualities that led to success -- not the passion or the will or the ego or the work or the drive or the ambition or the talent. It just makes it look as though their owner is ashamed of them. And anyone who would rather be known for humbleness than for any other quality -- well, they could try to sign up for David Brooks's course. I don't think his syllabus included David Copperfield but maybe they'd get extra credit for it.