The Trouble with Self-Esteem

Self-Esteem: Not a Problem

Is there really a problem with self-esteem?  Can it lead to serious issues?  Some think it can, but however there is real proof to what issues with self-esteem can lead to.  Self-esteem may seem like a problem, but to some it is what helps them to succeed in life.  

Self-esteem is displayed as a problem in the essay written by Lauren Slater.  She makes several statements that make low self-esteem and high self-esteem negative.  She says people with low self-esteem cause major issues in life.  “Hijackers and suicide bombers suffer from feeling of worthlessness and that their violent, fluorescent acts are desperate attempts to bring some inner flair to a flat mindscape.  This all makes so much sense that that we have not thought to question it”(Slater 807).  This statement is ridiculous.  Have you ever spoken to a hijacker or a suicide bomber?  No, it is impossible to speak to someone who has committed a crime that took their own lives.  If you can not speak to these people, how can you really tell if they had low or high self-esteem?  It is almost impossible unless y chance before they committed the crime they called a person and let them know they were committing a atrocious act because of there self-esteem.  That is ludicrous.  Low self-esteem does not cause people to do anymore harm than a person with self-esteem.  

Slater also says people with high self-esteem, “pose a greater threat to those around them than people with low self-esteem”(808).  She supports her claim with results from tests saying that people with self-esteem attack those who are more timid than themselves.  These results are also refutable.  She does not state what the people with the low self-esteem do during this test.  They could also be attacking others, possibly at a lower rate that those with higher self-esteem.  

Slater’s argument is strong, but is not perfect.  There is no way for her to say that both high and low self-esteem cause problems, and win an argument.  That is basically stated that all people cause problems.  If that is what her argument is based upon then there really is no argument at all.  She says all types people cause problems, and this is obviously true.  Problems are cause by people from all walks of life.  Their self-esteem does not play a factor.  If you are not supposed to have a high self-esteem because you are more likely to abuse people who are “inferior” to you, and you should not have a low self-esteem because you are more likely to cause a major attack, then what should you think of yourself?