Oh, America. Land of the free, home of the intellectually sub-par. Most country-men and women love talking about how amazing America is, but they don't really like talking about how terrible it is.* We are made up of people whom, more often than not, cling to tradition. Tradition is another way of saying: Let's keep doing the same thing over and over again, and never change. There's a problem with that logic when we're a part of a country that is supposed to be the (current) greatest economical and militarily versed country in the world.
We cannot continue to be great if we don't want to change. There can be negative change, of course, but the change I'm referring to specifically is progress. Easier said than done, I know, but we have all of the tools. Certain things that worked before don't work anymore. A lot of people think that the changes we have made in certain systems, whether they are educational, authoritative, or labor systems are bad things, and that some negative repercussions to making these changes means that the old way was better. I'm here to tell you that this train of thought is a fallacy. The reason why change was being made at all is because enough people were noticing that things were starting to suck.
Updated section: One thing I meant to bring up before publishing was the similarity I see between the US and Sears as far as change goes. You've been living under a rock for quite a few years if you're not aware that Sears Holdings (SHLD) is going under. What did they do wrong? they took too long to innovate and change with the times. They realized after it was too late that a great way to sell merchandise is through this thing called the internet. Every other low-cost retail, including that of Wal-Mart, was way ahead of the curve! This country feels like that to me. It feels like we're trying to catch up while other countries are flying past us. I immediately think of Japan and Switzerland as countries that really seem to have their shit together. Let's just say that as a nation, I hope we have the ability to innovate better/quicker than Sears, or else we're in trouble.
Some of the changes that have been made, whether legislative or otherwise, have been progressive. Some changes have shown regressions, but that DOES NOT MEAN that the process of CHANGING the system was the problem. There's a quote from Teddy Roosevelt that I've been living by for quite some time. Personally, I think it's a fantastic concept. He says, "In any moment of decision, the best thing to do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing." Now, to put that into perspective, try, for just a moment, to put on the shoes of the last two president's when they had to make critical decisions to better/defend our country. For Bush, it was 9/11. For Obama, it HAS BEEN (that's the present-perfect, folks) what will likely be called the Great Recession.
I don't think Bush made the greatest decisions in the world to invade Pakistan. In hind sight, we now know that the attack on Sadam Hussein, though justifiable considering the man was a lunatic, had nothing to do with the attacks on our country. They had to do with a self-serving mission to end a fight that his father, Big George, never finished from the Gulf War. It could be argued that the fight against Sadam Hussein really helped Pakistan and other of the surrounding countries in the Middle East. The other side could be argued, too, that the fight against Sadam Hussein caused more problems than it solved. We don't really know these things yet, but it doesn't really matter. The point is the man took information that was given to him and he used it to make tough decisions. What more can you ask for when your country is being attacked?
I don't think Obama has made the greatest decisions in the world either. I've been on the fence about his constitutional dealings, and I absolutely hate that he gave bonuses to upper execs of failing companies. A lot of people mock him for going against the grain/re-writing rules/creating executive orders/etc. But I LOVE his tenacity. The guy gets his ass handed to him by Congress every five seconds, and he pretty much goes, "Oh, you don't want to change? Well, then let me do it for you." Now, you can disagree with this all you want, but you have to understand the pros to this kind of decision making: 1. If he's wrong THEN WE MAKE OTHER CHANGES. That's the beauty about being wrong. If it's proven that a new system/idea is wrong, then we stop acting on that idea and think of something else. Believe it or not, the simple act of decisions making AIDS IN PROGRESSING THE COUNTRY 2. If he's RIGHT, then we go, "Oh, well, didn't see that coming," and continue with our lives. Personally, I think our Constitution DOES need to be re-written. It's dated. Yes, the foundation of many of the principles should remain the same i.e. freedom, freedom of speech, etc. There are a lot of things that shouldn't change. BUT some things are definitely in need of some tweaking.
To conclude, let's be a little more aware of how progression works. Staying stagnant will only make us worse. The proof there lies with our educational statistics, mostly.** And, frankly, I don't care for complainers who do not have ideas themselves. I don't like the "I know it's wrong, but I have no idea how I'd fix it," approach and neither would any manager or supervisor you'd ever have in your life. As Jeff Daniel's character states in the opening scene of "The Newsroom," we are not the greatest country in the world anymore. The first step to change is admitting that we're not all that great. Yes, we do still have a lot of opportunities. And, yes, there is a lot of obtainable wealth, but we're still so far behind with social rights. We're still so far behind in making sure that the majority of the country isn't mostly impoverished. We built ourselves up on the principle that we will help each other get to the top, but lately we've become a country that is more concerned about getting above everyone else, that we forgot where we came from.
Keep thinking, people! Don't quit. Innovate!
*When they do, they hate holding themselves accountable, and generally enjoy jolly-old past-times such as: finger pointing, name calling, and blaming everything on a President.
**How we don't have standardized education yet is beyond me.
- PatInTheHat
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