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Out of Character: A Nation Unmoored

2 min readMar 4, 2025
Photo by Christian Battaglia on Unsplash

“Our leaders are existing out of character, and so are you.”Effenus Henderson

There comes a time when a nation must look itself in the mirror and ask: Who have we become? Have we lost the moral courage to stand, to resist, to believe in something greater than our own comfort?

We are witnessing a paradox in real-time — a country adrift, led by those who shiver in fear, mesmerized by an unsympathetic leader bent on total control. Those called to lead have instead abdicated their calling, intoxicated by greed, lulled into complacency by power’s seductive whisper. They no longer serve the people; they serve the illusion of power itself.

We watch, numbed by distraction, while the real prize is taken right before our eyes. The aphrodisiac of cognitive dissonance has dulled our senses — we see suffering, we see ruthlessness carried to the extreme, yet we look away. Why? Because the truth is too hard to accept. It is easier to believe the lie than to confront the reality that our democracy, our shared humanity, is being hollowed out from within.

And you — yes, you — have also been led out of character. While you fixate on the poor, the marginalized, and the suffering, the architects of oppression tighten their grip. They do not care for your morality. They are not interested in fairness, in justice, or in truth…

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Effenus Henderson
Effenus Henderson

Written by Effenus Henderson

President and CEO of HenderWorks Consulting and Co-Founder of the Institute for Sustainable Diversity and Inclusion. Convener, ISO Working Group, DEI

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