But why should we not examine our ‘misdeeds and flaws’? We’ve spent so much time denying them that it probably does more good than harm to ponder them. You probably know how a person who thinks they have no flaws acts; scale it up to a civilization and it’s a disaster.

We do not have real moral authority unless we admit our flaws, and why is it that we in particular should ‘lead the world’? Why are we so special?