The Tyranny Of Nice: How We Traded Virtue For Vibes

 From The Tyranny of Nice: How We Traded Virtue for Vibes - LewRockwell and written by Brian D. O’Leary

The O'Leary Review July 29, 2025

"America wasn't built on self-esteem. It was built on self-respect—and the courage to speak hard truths."

"People are drowning in the shallow waters of self-esteem. For decades, the high priests of pop psychology and the wardens of politics have peddled a dangerous gospel: that feeling good about oneself is the highest good.

This therapeutic tyranny, whispered from leather couches, insists that self-worth is a prize to be given, not an honor to be earned.

Has the public been sold a bill of goods? Our elites swap the cheap sugar of affirmation for the red meat of character. This isn’t a mere misstep but poison that is corrupting the national soul.

The architects of this grand deception deliberately confuse two distinct concepts: self-esteem and self-image. Self-esteem is a fleeting emotional vapor. Self-image is a clear-eyed reckoning of what you are and what you can become.

The pioneers who carved a nation from wilderness weren’t burdened by chasing warm fuzzies. They stood firm on an honest self-image, aware of both strengths and faults.

Achievement springs not from narcissism but from relentless self-critique. The humble man, conscious of his flaws, builds empires. The peacock, strutting on inflated pride, accomplishes nothing.

This obsession with internal validation spawns a rotten public counterpart: the cult of nice. In the parlors of power and Ivy League lounges, a new commandment reigns: Thou Shalt Be Nice. But—as this writer’s First Law decrees— “Nice is not a virtue.”

Nice is cowardice masquerading as courtesy, silencing plain truths for fear of offense.

This pathology can be seen in some of the forward-facing “celebrities” within the Church hierarchy. In the case of wolves in sheep’s clothing like James Martin, S.J., pastoral agreeableness trumps doctrinal truth and, in doing so, it sacrifices centuries of wisdom on the altar of accommodation.

Another favorite pastime of Martin’s is to weaponize the term “inclusion” to silence dissent, while hurling the bizarre tag of “othering” at faithful Americans, casting them as outsiders in their own land.

Forgotten Americans, however, are aware of the difference. They demand truth over therapy and justice over tolerance. This isn’t a debate over manners but a battle for civilization’s moral foundations.

The classical virtues are not “nice.” They are demanding. Saint John the Baptist did not offer Herod a lifestyle dialogue when he delivered the righteous rebuke that cost him his head.

Charity lives in truth’s strong embrace, not relativism’s flimsy hug. While it isn’t kind to let a man wander in darkness, it is an act of love to show him the harsh light of reality. Our culture’s revival must begin by shattering the mirror of self-esteem and embracing the stark reflection of an accurate self-image.

This is our fight—and it’s not merely against bureaucrats or globalists this time around. The battle is against a weakness within.

The choice? It’s between the fleeting comfort of “nice” and the enduring strength of virtue.

The truth, as a wise man once said, is like a lion. We need not defend it. It needs only to be unleashed.

This article was originally published on The O’Leary Review.

End of sobering article...

Which do you choose: being "nice," or speaking truth through charity??

Pray for strength and honor!

Viva Cristo Rey!  Bl. Fr. Miguel Pro, Fr. Emil Kapaun and Fr. Vincent Capodanno, pray for us...

St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle...

St. Joseph pray for us!!

Gene DeLalla