I couldn't remember the last time I had heard anyone use that term in an open discussion. The speaker was Andrew J. Bacevich. He was on the August 17th Bill Moyers Journal, discussing his latest book - The Limits of Power: The End of American Exceptionalism.
Per Bacevich, "profligacy" may well be the major cause of our decline as a nation.
The word comes from the Latin profligatus and profligare - meaning to "ruin" or "overthrow" or to be "dissolute". A profligate person is "recklessly extravagant or wasteful" (Compact Oxford English Disctionary)
The ancients, at least back when we discussed the 7 Deadly Sins, might well place such behavior under Avarice, even Gluttony.
Many moderns refer to is as Consumerism - that desire to have unlimited options and to buy, buy, buy regardless of our need.
Bacevich posits that regardless of whom we elect this coming November, this problem will not go away unless we - the people - are willing to face the truth about ourselves.
We knew about the oil crisis in the early 1970s - and continued to purchase large, gas-guzzling automobiles.
We know there is a growing world-wide food shortage - and continue to purchase food "stuff" with empty calories, demanding unlimited choices.
We know there is a severe economic crisis - yet still allow campaign debates on whether or not there should be limits on wealth.
Do we have too much "stuff"? One clue would be the significant growth of the storage building industry. We have more "stuff" than we can store in our homes!
There are several Sundays this fall when a sermon about our "Profligate" nature might serve as a wake-up call to all of us. STOP BUYING what isn't necessary.
As long as we insist on being a nation that "deserves" unlimited choices and goods we keep our men and women in Service in harm's way - because that is truly why we are at war.
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