“The greatest leader is not necessarily the one who does the greatest things. He is the one that gets the people to do the greatest things.”
~ Ronald Reagan
Greetings my fellow Americans!
As I reflect holistically on what we are becoming as a nation (or a collection of people physically located on the same land mass), on what our so-called leaders are saying and doing as it transpires, and on how we are collectively reacting to it, I am struck by a double meaning of the question I’ve posed in the title of this article. On the one hand, What are we doing? could be a common head-scratching, hand-wringing reaction to the seeming nonsense and insanity of where we seem to have placed our national priorities, and the figurative self-immolation we appear to want to commit in the service of some greater, world-saving good which does not include unalienable rights endowed by our Creator.
On the other hand, What are we doing? could also be a poser of sorts, intended to trigger a sense of individual responsibility for, and duty to, do all that we can to salvage what is left of our United States, and put us on a path back toward the social compact and the moral, ethical and societal principles which enabled the relative freedom and internal peace which we’ve collectively enjoyed for most of our lifetimes, and which remains unprecedented in human history.
Regarding the former take on this question, I continue to be greatly disturbed by the apparent misplacement of worship and loyalty to individuals and causes at both poles of our political spectrum, and the incessant focus on national figures and celebrities facilitated by media purportedly coming from both sides. The beauty of our federated, representative republic has lied in our ability to unite over shared or common concerns (like threats from outside our borders and the ability to ubiquitously engage in commerce) while maintaining our relative individuality and ability for independent thought vis-à-vis sovereign states and local culture and community. That so much of our thought and “action” is now nationally focused, and that so many appear to be seeking salvation from a centralized government prioritizing their political priorities, while ignoring and/or the diminishing the importance of what is happening much closer to where they physically reside, and where, ironically, they actually have more relative power to effect real and lasting change.
Which leads to the latter take on our topic: What are we doing? Is America about merely voting for someone who claims to represent our values, sitting back and hoping that he or she follows through on promises made to change our collective situation and, depending on where on our political spectrum a person or group lays claim to being, we organically become either more or less American based solely on their integrity and effectiveness?
Do we bear any additional responsibility to ensure that the unalienable rights with which we have been endowed are protected and preserved? We appear to all be in agreement at some level that the current state of our American society is unsatisfactory, and seem to differ only in whether we need to restore America or complete its obliteration. Is this a purely political fight? Are we really and solely at the mercy of politicians and bureaucrats to determine our national fate? Are we victims or perpetrators of our national disintegration?
What are we doing?
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