The number of points of view possible on any issue is quite incredible. My last post really stirred up a hornets nest. I've appended my two cents to the comments section of the last post, so I won't repeat myself here. This is what American debate is all about- getting the best input from the most people. And that's why I love it. Some of the best input comes from the people living under the system. You need the political experts, the scientists, the economists. You need the dry data and the people to help interpret it. But most of all, you need to know what people are thinking, how they got to that point, and where they want to go. You can't make everyone happy, but you can at least try to understand why they feel the way they do. I hope this post will clear up any misconceptions that may be floating around about my opinion of the U.S.
I don't typically say a lot of good stuff about the U.S. It's not that I'm anti-U.S. or that I hate our country. It's not that the U.S. doesn't do great things or have great people. I just don't need a flag or a lapel pin or a sporting event to make me feel American. I've never needed to belong to something bigger than myself. Being alive is enough for me. I've never felt the need to be in a group. I'm fairly private and prefer spending my time alone with my thoughts and musings. I'm not religious, I don't go to many parties or spend time with large groups of people. I guess I just don't have a group mentality. I prefer a few hard and fast friends around a desert campfire. On top of that, I feel like we already have enough U.S. cheerleaders.
But all that doesn't mean that I don't care about the U.S. I think the ultimate problem is that I see all the great things we could be. And I feel that our genius and talent and leadership are being wasted on more frivolous concerns. Don't misunderstand me- those concerns are important and need to be addressed. But they have come to overshadow the greater picture of what America can be. I guess what I really want is for people to examine issues from the point of view of those outside the nation, not just from pro-American points. I want people to think about how our decisions and our way of life influence the rest of the world. America should be worldly and remember that we are part of a global community. Sometimes, we have to take a little less in order to give a little more to the rest. To me, that's not un-American. Rather, that's what a leader does. A leader stands up and takes responsibility for their actions, treats fairly and in good faith, recognizes and acknowledges when they have made a mistake, and always pushes those around them to be their best. Once you have shown the ability to lead, others will come to you and rely on your leadership.
I want this nation to chart a course that maintains the best of humankind. I want us to be the leaders in ethics. I want to maintain the moral high ground. Above all, I want us to lead by example. I want us to maintain the dignity of people. These are goals that may well be unachievable. But if we don't try to always better ourselves, how can we ask others to do so? I was personally offended by a billboard here in Washington. It says "This is a great nation. Why change?" The truth is, this is a great nation. But it can be better. It can be more just, more caring, and wiser without sacrificing the good things it already has. If you're not willing to change, then you relegate yourself the dustbin of history, a landscape littered with great nations and people that could not change and became obsolete. If you're not willing to change, you've really missed one of the more important lessons of life. Nations must evolve just like humans and animals. If we always accept the status quo we will never be any better than this.
Let me be very clear- I would never want to live anywhere else. We enjoy a high degree of freedom, privacy, and opportunity that very few others could ever hope for. I also realize, if I had been born into a different system, I would defend that system. But I like ours and so I'll keep it.
My contribution to the U.S., my patriotism, is to point out and, hopefully, to remedy it's flaws. I want us to be a world leader. I want our own actions to match our rhetoric. I want our leadership to be honestly earned, not taken with weapons. I want us to begin attacking the roots of social, political, and economic problems, not just treating the weeds. We must remain true to ourselves and to humanity. But we must always remember that we are but one nation in a global community. While we may be called upon to lead, we must always be willing to listen, to adapt, and, perhaps most importantly, to acknowledge when we are not in the best position to lead and step aside for the greater good.
4 comments:
If I didn't know better I would think you're trying to run for political office. That post was full of quotable little gems.
All that being said, I'll focus in on what I thought was the main theme: we can always be better. Why would we want things to remain the same? Stagnation in biology/medicine is essentially death, in technology is obsolescence, in politics is retirement. The drive to improve the country is in part what has made it into the behemoth it is today.
Do I disagree with many of the policies, laws, and backroom wink-wink deals that go on in the country? Absolutely. Do I think that absolutely everything is wrong and we should end this experiment right now? Hardly.
The country was founded as an experiment (and many other things). It is ongoing and should be continually refined by the newly developing data. I often have a pessimistic outlook on many things (or at least I've been accused of such), but I still have hope for the country and humanity.
Excellent post!
This would not be a great country if we were not capable of change (hello? slavery? equal rights? mandatory education? child labor laws?).
Being patriotic means, in this country, being willing to listen to more than one side of an argument and then work together to create something better.
I've always thought that the day we stop learning is the day we start dying, and I think the same thing goes for our country.
The beauty of the American governance structure is it's inherent bottom-up approach. When enough people at the bottom clamor for a solution it forces the politicos to react or face electoral defeat. It's really all about change and experimentation. It's essentially market politics. If one solution doesn't work, we try another until we reach an acceptable balance.
I highly suggest a book called The White Man's Burden. It's about why Western foreign aid rarely works. The key issue addressed is that aid is given by large-project planners in a top-down fashion. But we know from experience in our politics and in our economy that this doesn't work. Top-down systems are not beholden to the people they affect and receive no feedback from those people. Thus, they have no metrics for determining if they are successful and there are no consequences for failure. And therein lies the beauty of a system designed to be experimented and tinkered with. When things are successful, the leadership is rewarded with votes and happy citizens. When ideas and policies are implemented poorly, the leadership is punished at the polls and a new group is called in to lead.
Today I saw another of example of the poor use of patriotism. McCain has been running ads and sound bites that question Obama's patriotism and dedication to the U.S. That, in and of itself, is not necessarily bad. Obviously we don't want to elect leaders that have no faith in the country we are asking them to guide. But this issue has been placed at the forefront of the race (at least for the moment and definitely for several other moments in the past) over issues I would argue are far more pressing (health care, personal and corporate tax reform, primary and higher education, immigration reform, etc). Whether that was McCain's goal or a byproduct of the media reports, it's become a central issue. So instead of looking at the solutions the candidates are putting forward to tackle some of the problems we face in the coming years we are arguing over who is more patriotic, who shows their patriotism in more recognizable ways (lapel pins?), and who loves America more.
It's great to be patriotic and nationalistic, but there must be a limit to how seriously we treat the idea. Blind patriotism is just as dangerous as blind faith or unquestioning obedience. It's a great thing to have, but it must be tempered with the realization that people will bear out their patriotic tendencies differently. There is no one correct way to do it. If there was then we could all just change our names to Eichmann.
I end with an important question- what makes a good leader? I sincerely believe that the last seven years have seen a serious erosion of America's leadership position on the world stage. In fact, I would argue we've been on a steady downward trajectory at least since the Reagan administration. Sure, there were ups and downs, but the overall direction has been toward a more negative view of our leadership position in the international community. What can we do to reverse that trend and regain the respect of other nations? I think these are questions worth exploring and their answers will serve our country better in the long run than questions of absolute patriotism or reducing short term gas prices.
What makes a good leader?
For me the simplest explanation would be a person that is capable of obtaining, understanding, and incorporating new information so as to make an informed decision on a subject.
As Stephen Colbert said in his speech at the White House Correspondents Dinner a couple years ago: This administration believes the same thing it did on Wednesday as it did on Monday, no matter what happened on Tuesday. While this is a gross oversimplification of the issue it points out a major failure in policy and decision making.
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