T-shirts and the Esteeming of Oneself

I have a T-shirt that I wear frequently. It's black, and has 14 red letters across the chest. These letters spell out the phrase "I SEE DUMB PEOPLE." I wear it a lot, because it's one of only three shirts in my possession. Other people comment on it frequently, and last night someone commented in a most unusual way.
He said, "you should put black tape over the word 'dumb' and write 'smart' instead." His point was that people would then walk away from me with a happy, warm feeling instead of mild to strong irritation.
This is a really good point, and I wish I'd thought of this idea first. Think about how cool that would be: T-shirts that don't say "you're stupid," but that encourage.
Okay, the truth is that it wouldn't be cool at all. It would be pathetic and completely un-funny. This country has come up with an idea for its public schools: let's teach everyone how special they are! Let's focus more on self-esteem than the two R's (who needs arithmetic?). Wouldn't this be a great idea? Then the younger generations will grow up feeling good about themselves.
This could be a good idea, but it isn't.
Here's what it's done: it's created a society of people who have no self-esteem, no confidence, and don't feel good about themselves at all.
You may be wondering about now how I made the leap from insulting but funny T-shirts to teaching self-esteem. Well, I think that the latter is the cause of the former. This is not because I think that everyone is too arrogant now. In fact, I think it's the opposite. This is demonstrated by the other kind of T-shirt in the world.
There's the kind of shirt saying "you're stupid/lazy/boring etc," and there's the kind saying "I'm stupid/lazy/boring etc." They both come from the same place. The first one is enjoyed by teenagers everywhere because it makes them feel good because someone else is stupid (the shirt says so!). The second one comes from their true feelings.
So this begs the question "how does self-esteem being taught in school give people lower self-esteems?"
Very easily. The problem is that self-esteem is taught apart from its source. Self-esteem, which I will call pride because it's quicker to say, comes from actions. I have pride in the fact that I taught myself to play guitar. While this is not the most amazing of all feats, it's something that I have done.
In school, kids are told that they are special. But what is it that makes them special? If one child does an exceptionally good job can't be told how well he did, because then those who didn't do so well will feel bad. So the one who does well sees that he is treated no better than the one who failed.
This could be easily fixed. We should recognize that, though everyone may be created equal, everyone is not the same. Some people have mental, physical or emotional handicaps, and these people can't be treated the same as everyone else.
How this can be implemented, I don't know. But it should be done somehow, because that is how to really build self-esteem.
And by the way: if anyone happens to find a place where T-shirts with messages containing complements can be bought, please let me know.
Goodbye, valiant reader,
Mitchell