AMERICA THE GREAT
We have been in the “political season” for what seem like forever. Throughout the debate, especially in the last six months we have had the three remaining candidates, Clinton, Obama and to a lesser extent McCain; as well as their surrogates try and sell us the moon in order to restore an America on life support to “its former glory” through increased government regulation, handouts; and in at least two of the cases, increased taxation.
I do not know if I stepped into some sort of Sci-Fi like alternate universe where Kirk and Spock are evil or if the evil Kirk and Spock found a way into my universe but that is not the America I know and love. While I think that America in its current state has some short-comings and may be in a pivotal moment in its life as a country (which all nations have gone through multiple times in their span); I do not think it is on life support. Even if you buy into the premise that this little bump in the road is America on “life-support”, increased government regulation and handouts have never ever been the American way or the way that America proves just how great she really is.
America, time and time again proves just how great no not just great, rather how Devine she really is in the exact polar opposite way that our next President (whoever he or she is) may try to tell you is the way. The Pope touched on it in some of his televised speeches this past week, which he spent in America. America proves its divinity each time not through hand outs and regulation but rather by standing tall in the darkest hour; finding a way to pull that rabbit out of our Star and Striped colored hat and defeating whatever challenge was put in front of us regardless of its makeup.
Remember America got its start because it was sick of being bullied by Great Britain. Washington, Jefferson and the lot did not cower under their collective beds or go begging to the rest of the world for help. France’s naval assistance came after we proved that we could take it to the British on land and to suit their own personal agenda; not out benevolence of freedom (something that America does throughout the world today).
Nowhere in the Declaration of Independence does it say “Please be nice to us, pretty please”; nor does it beg for a hand out or a government program. Rather, it told the British Crown what America was about in a polite yet firm manner. It told that overbearing government that we do not need to be told what to do and can do better without it. Then just to be sure they heard us, we clenched up our fists and did what needed to be done. To borrow a phrase from former WWE superstar “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, our Founding Fathers “Opened up a can of Whoop Ass” on what was at the time the world’s largest military and sent that message heard around the world. That message was firm yet simple; We Americans do not tolerate overbearing governments for very long. And although it seemed like a lesson in futility we won. Not only did this tiny group of ordinary citizens stand up to the world’s largest army, it found a way to win against all odds. Furthermore it only took us less than two centuries to become the greatest nation the world has ever seen and we have not, nor should we ever forget or give up how that happened or why.
This winning against all odds ability and mentality is not an isolated incident. Whether it was the Civil War era, the Great Depression/World War II era or the Jimmy Carter Presidency we have always found the way out of our darkest hour by digging just a little deeper within ourselves to find that will we did not realize we had; and come up with a way to come out stronger than ever before. This attitude is reflected in the heroes we remember, not only the real ones like Washington, Lincoln or Regan but also our fictional ones.
Fictional legends often come out of the frame of mind of the populace that created and embraced them thus bringing them to life; so they typically hold the ideals and abilities that particular culture considers to be great in a larger than life way. The Greeks brought us unbeatable warrior heroes like Hercules and Achilles. The Norse brought us Thor and so on. With that frame of mind, think about the legends from American fiction that stand out the most.
As someone who was born in 1975 and came of age in the 80’s; some of the legends of American folklore that come to my mind are Rocky, Hulk Hogan, Luke Skywalker and MacGyver. Each of these characters, when seen from the surface, certainly appears to be different. Rocky and Hulk Hogan portrayed sports heroes who were able to channel their inner spirit and will their bodies into absorbing unimaginable punishment on the way to defeating their seemingly unbeatable foes. MacGyver was a genius who channeled his inner spirit and managed to use his guile and cunning in order to find his way out of tight spots and to defeat each nemesis. Luke Skywalker used his inner spirit (known in the Star Wars universe as “The Force”) not only to summon an indomitable spirit from within himself, but also to become an inspiring leader that was able to bring out the same from those around him (i.e. Han Solo) and have them join the common cause of defeating the unbeatable foe. Each of the above mentioned characters illustrates to us what makes America the country it is and that is why we remember them. Each one of them was able to hone that inner strength that lies within each of us and use their abilities to their fullest do what needed to be done and achieve what was thought to be the unachievable in order to obtain victory.
Most of the human beings throughout history have had two things keeping them from their true greatness. The first is that most forms of government actually prevent or discourage people from seeking their true greatness. The reason that the Soviet Union didn’t even last a century is that “from each according to his ability; to each according to his need” (i.e. punitive tax codes and government hand outs) does not breed greatness; it breeds complacency. For most of America’s existence we realized this; and even today I think a majority of us still do even if many have shrugged back into the comfortable role of complacency with hand out. Our Founders certainly knew this when they set up our form of government. One in which government had a well defined yet limited role in daily lives of the citizen. That is the main reason why we went from a small rural nation to the world’s greatest power, and an influence not seen since Ancient Rome, in an historical blink of an eye (232 years in the grand scheme of things is not very long).
The other reason that America’s greatness occurred is a little more difficult for most people to understand, let alone obtain. It is that inner strength that is found within each of us that “Super Power” if you will which allows us to run on all cylinders; where we realize and utilize that ability each of us has within which gives us the opportunity to be great and use it in the effort of defeating the undefeatable or beating the odds. Some people have it. Benjamin Franklin; Thomas Edison, Davey Crocket and Rush Limbaugh are prime examples. Snicker if you will at that last one, but look at where Rush came from, where he is today and what he did on the way there. There is a reason why the Liberals curse his name. Rush, nearly singlehandedly, took what was a dying medium and turned it into one of the most powerful forces of freedom and inspiration there is by channeling that inner strength we all have and finding a way to make his greatness work. Each of the other abovementioned Americans, as well as countless others, also found their inner spirit or force and figured out how to use it to become the greatest person they could at what they did.
Most people though, do not know how to find, let alone, draw from that spirit in order to pull the proverbial rabbit out of a hat and make them self the greatest person they can be. Most of us rely on a great leader who has found their inner power for inspiration, and that is the reason why we remember people Washington, Jefferson and Lincoln; the reason why we hold Eisenhower, Ronald Regan, John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. in such high regard and will probably remember them for a millennia or longer.
They were the leaders who were able to foster that inner spirit or “The Force” within us en masse to do that which needed to be done to move the immovable object or to overcome the insurmountable force and claim victory. George W. Bush, despite his current short comings found his inner power from 2001 though sometime shortly after his reelection in 2004. The reason why his favorability ratings were so high for those 4 or 5 years was that he did what great leaders do. He took the tragedies that occurred nearly simultaneously, the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks; the Enron like scandals that came to light in 2001 and the recession which had been developing since about 1998 (give or take a year) and gave us the inspiration we needed to dig deep and find that inner spirit so we could battle both the immovable object and the insurmountable force at the same time. Look at the outcome. We have record low unemployment; the GDP and small business ownership are both at all time highs; Saddam and his sons are dead; the Taliban and Al-Qaida are on the run and Osama is hiding in a cave. Unfortunately for Bush and the majority of Americans, he lost his ability to channel his inner power which is a very important aspect of great leadership. I don’t know if it was fatigue or the constant undeserving criticism he received, but he did and when that happened his ratings began to plummet and the majority returned to that state of status quo.
Don’t get me wrong, Americans are not alone in their ability to harness their inner spirit. It lies there, usually dormant, within every single person alive past, present and future. Take a look at the battle of Thermopylae in 480 BC, where King Leonidas and 300 Spartans drew from that inner strength, and every bit of their military abilities, to hold the Persians at bay long enough for the citizenry of Athens to be saved from the pending onslaught (and preserving what we know as “Democracy” which was in its infancy at that time). British Prime Ministers Winston Churchill and Margret Thatcher were also able to rally the British people into playing a lion’s share of the role when it came to defeating the Nazis and the Soviets respectively.
My point is that America and the American ideal was specifically created by our Founding Fathers in order to make it as easy as it can be for us to channel that inner spirit which I have been talking about, but we still need to be able to find it and harness it in order for it to be effective. Unfortunately, I do not see that type of leadership coming from the Presidency until at least 2012. I don’t see President Bush regaining it and his three heirs-apparent definitely do not have a clue about it, based on their past records. That means that the ordinary citizen is going to have to look elsewhere for assistance in channeling the strength from within. Fortunately for us, our Founding Fathers set up our country in such a way that even if the government leaders where lacking the ability to rally the masses, that there would be a way for leaders in the private sector to emerge, be they from the religious, merchant, elder statesmen, philosophers or another class of citizen.
Already some leaders have emerged in the private sector. We have the elder statesmen, such as Newt Gingrich who has developed his American Solutions think tank. This think tank (as well as others) is a great place for ideas to become solutions. Pope Benedict has proven that the clergy is ready to step up to the plate with his awe-inspiring speeches of hope and inner strength. We have great orators and philosophers on the TV, radio and internet such as; Rush, Sean Hannity and Mark Levin. We even have merchants such as Wal-Mart stepping up to the leadership plate and creating solutions to problems we have. You know that health care crisis that the three stooges err… I mean Presidential candidates are complaining about? Well, while they are busy arguing about how much control government should take from you (not to mention money); it is already in the process of being solved. Wal-Mart began offering an ever increasing amount of generic prescription drugs at $4 for a 30 day supply, not to mention reasonably priced eye care clinics. They also recently announced and began offering health care clinics at reasonable prices. It is only a matter of time before others follow this lead and do the same. That is one of the reasons why the Government elites (the Left) like to vilify Wal-Mart. It is because Wal-Mart’s leadership proves time and time again the Adam Smith and not Karl Marx was right about how to increase the quality of life of the masses. That is where their leadership is shown through. If we have the courage to listen to the private citizens who are stepping up to the plate and take our inspiration from them while cultivating the next great American President and pressuring our current crop of “leaders” from within D.C. to mind their business; I think America’s greatness has a good chance to shine through for an eternity.
