Confidence

Grace consists of two parts; confidence and peace. Confidence knowing you have what it takes to correct misfortune. Peace knowing that you can handle the consequences of your actions. Both of these reinforced by independence. Regardless how people react or circumstances change, your heart is fixed and content. A graceful person almost seems oblivious to harassment. They have endurance due to confidence
Confidence isn't to be confused with arrogance. This false form of confidence is based in insecurity. Arrogance wants to win confidence through vendettas and competition. It Justifies wrongdoing with paybacks and concern about losing. It has an element of fear and possessiveness. Arrogance's wellbeing is solely based in getting its way. Things are good when that happens and bad when it doesn't.
Confidence understands and has empathy for other people's struggle with a big picture in mind. Knowing we all want to enjoy this thing called life but refusing to allow strife and adversity spoil it. It has peace knowing that all will be well regardless of how things turn out. These are elements of grace.
We see this mirrored in the gospel. God with us, understanding our struggles, willing to give us a break. He has no need any more for penance and isn't forcing his will on us . We can have peace and confidence that he will complete in a good way what he started in each of us. We can also have peace knowing that whatever the result nothing we do in our lives is a waste.
😃🎶

Grace

What is really lacking in ours and in the next generation is grace. This can smooth over the rough areas of our lives in so many areas. I recall my dad telling me about brawls he had as a kid and how the losers might shake hands and admit defeat gracefully. He said that he had a fight with a minority group that had recently moved in the area of his school. The particular guy pulled a knife on him instead of admitting defeat. He knew that his world was unraveling at that point. Most of the people from his generation moved out; all because of a lack of grace in the culture that was taking over. 

We try to level the ground and keep our kids from experiencing disappointment. What they really need is to learn how to take disappointment on the chin; How to admire someone’s achievement even if it is at their own expense. We become hard on ourselves too and it is a lack of grace that causes suicides. The only way to overcome failures and have new beginnings is by having grace toward ourselves.  A person who gets up from a fall unscathed is considered graceful. You don’t get the job you want then keep trying. A graceful person endures insults unscathed. From government to driving on the road; not taking offense and allowing the winner to try his hand without resentment can go a long way.
If you think about it the most difficult people we interact with are those who have no grace. Fault finders are hard to deal and live with. Because they don't have grace doesn't mean we abandon ours. Making objective decisions and choices without taking on their bitterness takes a lot of fortitude but it is worth it. 

We get so much more accomplished as individuals and a society when we don’t take things so personal.  Most of the time the offenses aren't as bad as we thought and for those that are; moving on and making changes can be exciting. We pick ourselves up and start over, without bitterness or turmoil. Let the guy have the lane, no one has crashed and you can still get to your destination.    

Individualist

To continue with the last post, we want a form of government that works best; to make sure criminals see justice, to allow states to have common currency laws and exchanges and allow us to defend ourselves from super powers that might become bigger than us and engulf our freedoms. Every organization formed by humans has the inclination to trample on all others especially if they think their mission is critical. This is the attitude that starts every abuse. It doesn't matter if it is a religious, education, business or governmental organization. The ones with the biggest potential are those who can push their opinions and ideas by compulsion and the force of arms. That is why government and anything that is compulsory has to be constantly kept in check and limited. Trouble starts when those who are in charge take more control and assume the people that follow them will have the same good motives. They also assume all their administrators will act as angels. This is not the case with human institutions and is delusional because it requires ignoring human nature and history. Individual freedom is the best insurance against out of control institutions.

James Madison said it best in The Federalist #51:

“But what is government itself, but the greatest of all reflections on human nature? If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself.”

Ethics and Freedom

People choose to associate for various reasons: Friendships, clubs, businesses, churches and governments. We cannot call any of them bad since that is determined by the character of the people participating. This is why studying ethics is important. From a child every citizen should have sharp reasoning skills and comprehension of what is good and proper.

That being said, when we talk about political subjects, it is clear that every kind of government can succeed if the right people are in positions to govern. The real challenge is to get the right people in and that takes a well-informed citizenry. A monarchy is the most efficient government hands down. The problem is that when the King makes poor decisions everyone is affected. An aristocracy is next in line for efficiency and decisions can be made fast. But it tends toward cronyism and excludes classes of people if bad people are in charge. A democracy is the least efficient and become bad if the people are uninformed and a slight majority oppresses the minority. Notice that every form is represented in our Presidency, senate and house respectively. We have a limited government to assure freedom isn't hindered. Everyone has different opinions as to how things should be run and they should be free to try them out on those who are willing. It becomes a problem when it is imposed on everyone involuntarily.

This is the basis I use when I look at current events. A union is good if the right people are in charge and don’t dominate/gouge its members and the companies it deals with. A corporation is good when the officers have integrity to treat employees right and its investors. We as Americans are represented by both. We have investments as one way to make money and we bring in money as wages. Anyone with a retirement of any kind is depending on corporate America to make profits so they can live comfortable in the future. So neither is evil, but we should always make a stand to confront corruption and reward integrity. We are also responsible to raise up citizens that we can trust. This is the key to our future; more than keeping a particular form of association the way we want it.