For Lack Of A Better Leader

“But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security (U.S. Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776).” Through the most important document in the history of the United States, we hear these words echoed in the penmanship of John Hancock; the very thoughts and demands from the leaders of what would inevitably become the political, military, and economic superpower that we today call America. These infamous words spoken by our forefathers give us a better understanding of the mindset that Americans of the original thirteen colonies had some two-hundred and thirty years ago. Why is it then that you never hear anyone talk like this anymore? Have we become so complacent in our rich, fat and happy lives that we have merely forgotten our roots and our heritage? Have we been so deprived of good leadership for such and extended period of time that many of us feel lost? Or, is it that we just don’t care anymore? Any expert can point out that these are real problems. I on the other hand intend to show you not only why they are problems, but how they all in turn work in conjunction with each other only to escalate to one potentially serious mess.

“Inspect don’t expect.” As a Non-Commissioned Officer in the Marines Corps I had to learn to live by these words. The fact is complacency kills, well in war-time it does. However we can definitely apply this saying to our every day lives, technology, economy, and supremacy. The strait skinny is that the U.S. has not been challenged in a very long time. At the end of WWII the United States was the only standing economy and it was then that we in turn emerged a true world superpower. Yes there were other wars, an absolute advancement in technology around the globe, and a plethora jobs being lost to other, “cheaper” labor countries. If jobs and technology were being outsourced and off-shored solely to save on monetary expense I don’t think that I would be too worried, after all it does make “business sense” to do so. However I can’t help but agree with Robert Kiyosaki’s statement in his book Rich Dad, Poor Dad where he says, “I am concerned that too many people are focused too much on money and not their greatest wealth, which is their education. If people are prepared to be flexible, keep an open mind and learn, they will grow richer and richer through the changes (Kiyosaki 1997, pg. 56).” Is America getting stupider? I don’t personally believe we are, in fact I think we are amongst the smartest generations that this country has ever seen, but is that enough? I think not. In comparison to the rest of the world, who is in fact catching up to us not only in technology, but in education, we are now seeing a friendly competition beginning to emerge, although it may not turn out to be so friendly after all.

As the Disney song says, “it’s a small world after all,” many educators, economist, and liberals, would tell you, вЂ?it’s a tiny world after all.’ That’s right with the increase in technology on a global scale countries such as China and India have the ability to “leap frog” off of more developed countries advancements, and advance at a more rapid rate. Take note, other countries don’t want to be our leading supplier in imports, they really don’t even want to be us, they want to replace us as the worlds economic leader. When viewing a documentary by Thomas Friedman in economics class, we were brought to a scene in India where he was asking little kids what they wanted to be when they grew up. “A scientist and an astronaut” one child exclaims, “I want to be a veterinarian,” says another. What the hell? With the exception of astronaut I didn’t even know what these things were when I was their age. Ask an American child today the same question, you will hear, “I want to be a rock star,” “I want to be an actor,” or even worse, “I want to be a lawyer.” Maybe this proves Kiyosaki’s fears as mentioned earlier to be relevant. Maybe we have worried about succeeding as individuals as to attain pecuniary values so much that we have failed to instill intrinsic values as a team. But if we are to make a change, if we are to educate America, if we are going to try and stay on top there is one vital thing that we need, leadership.

“Give to us clear vision that we may know where to stand and what to stand for, because unless we stand for something, we shall fall for anything (Peter Marshall 2005).” How true this quote by Peter Marshall is. What exactly does he mean by this? He is in fact referring to two things, leadership and decision making. One thing that I have noticed thus far in my life is, we really haven’t had any powerful or motivational leaders in recent history. Though I believe that every president (G.W. Bush included) has done some good for this country, I really don’t feel that I have seen much of an impact from one of them in my lifetime. I do at the very least give Regan credit where credit’s due for bringing an end to the Cold War, I must admit that he did display a bit of intestinal fortitude in regards to our dealings with the U.S.S.R. With our current President it seems he is too busy with his conquest of world peace to really pay attention to the concerns here at home. The fact of the matter is America may be in for a rude awakening and no one, I repeat no one in a political seat on a National level has the courage to stand up and say something. Why? Votes. God forbid someone stand up and tell the people of this nation something that they don’t want to hear, for if you do, don’t count on running for the next election.

So what exactly can our leaders do about this issue? Well in my opinion, you can sit around all day long telling people what’s wrong with something, but if you never do anything then all you are doing is complaining. If a government leader of this country stood up to Americans on national television and said, “Hey America… this is the situation we are in, this is what’s wrong with it, and this is what we as your elected leaders propose to do,” they may not please everyone but at the very least will earn respect amongst the people. Perhaps someone should have paid