Ponder what makes our nation good, even great. Ponder what made us great in the first place. Then consider what will likely make us great again?
I ask this question because I know our country to be great in many categories, and weak or sick in others. There is good and bad in our story. Always has been. However, the bad is the strain that causes the good to appear and make the best of bad situations.
The good and bad together create the better.
For the most part, that is my conclusion: America is better because it competes within itself and with itself to find better products, services, outcomes to problems. Inventiveness comes from this interaction. That’s another word for creativity, too.
If the reward for being inventive and creative is accessible to any and all, America responds to needs positively. That is our strength. Competition and creative minds.
Our worst feature is rude selfcenteredness. We bully others with opinions not matching ours. We push arguments to ridiculous ends to fracture logic and historical fact. We seem to believe that louder is better, and meaner is more powerful. The rambunctious nature of some Americans is legion. The ‘ugly American’ is a well-earned reputation to many foreigners. Acting entitled and superior to others appears to be the root cause of that reputation.
But we even do that to our own countrymen. Read Letters to Editors of any publication, and you will see what I mean. Same on Facebook or blog commentaries. Don’t agree with the author? Lambaste him. Ridicule the piece. Travel illogical paths of commentary to make your point, but actually miss it entirely.
No, competition of opinion is not an American strength. Incivility rules the newscasts. Facebook, too.
Such behavior damages creative thinking and inventiveness. We need both to prosper and find our way forward, especially during and after a pandemic. Life is changing. Routines will be different. So too the economy, careers and culture.
Rather than running the egos, let’s use our brains to solve real problems and create an exciting future.
The reward will be felt by all.
May 6, 2020
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