Kim recently posted a blog entry about Peggy Noonan’s diatribe article on Sarah Palin. Now I’m not going to get into the whole Palin-thing because every time the topic comes up Kim works herself into such a lather that we spend the rest of the day cleaning up suds off the carpet. Rather, I’m interested in an observation Noonan makes in her piece that’s been mulling about in my brain.

Actually, it’s arguable that membership in the self-esteem generation harmed her [Palin]. For 30 years the self-esteem movement told the young they’re perfect in every way. It’s yielding something new in history: an entire generation with no proper sense of inadequacy.

There’s a couple of things I’m pondering here. First, did the whole self-esteem thing start with Palin’s generation? After all, that’s my generation. I recognize my kids grew up in it, but I’ve never considered that I did. I do recall being told that I could grow up to be anything I wanted, and perhaps this was different that my parents’ generation who’s expectations were more managed and in some cases tamped. But I didn’t grow up in the land of baseless praise and participation ribbons that my kids have “enjoyed”. Praise was perhaps not as parsimonious (yes, Mom, I used that word for you) as it was for my elders, but it was earned. Yet I still have to allow for the possibility that I’m being self-delusional here.

Still, like Noonan, I’ve worried that all this sunshine and roses lavished on our kids would result in them becoming dysfunctional adults with unrealistic expectations. I’ve tried to draw a line myself. I’m always careful with my kids to distinguish “I’m proud of you for trying” from “I’m proud of you for accomplishing”. Perhaps that distinction is lost on them, but I suspect not.

As my own children have matured, I’ve been relieved to discover that I don’t really think they have unreasonable expectations. They do seem aware of their limits, their challenges, and their talents. Their confidences seem appropriate (allowing for a bit of ego-inflation they undoubtedly inherited). In Noonan-speak, they do seem to have a sense of their own inadequacy.

I’m concluding that Noonan was wrong to generalize Palin’s lack of self awareness to her generation. I’ve known people who exhibit this trait who are of every age and generation. People who just don’t seem to have a sense of how the external world perceives them. People who don’t seem to have a sense of what their capabilities and limitations are. I tend to think that people who are wired this way will be this way regardless of whether they are praised or belittled, irrespective of how many participation ribbons they receive. Those who criticize them, constructively or otherwise, will become their enemies. And the existence of enemies will only tend to reinforce the good battling evil model in their minds and increase their righteous rhetoric.

These people have always been among us, and always will be. But that’s no reason to vote for them. (Excuse me, while I go get a sponge and a bucket.)