I have learned we need a lot of work as a nation. That people should reflect about who they are, the country they want to build, and how their behaviors are contributing to our growth or decline. I have also learned that our leaders are not infallible and their opinions are not necessarily any better than the common man's (Merit being based in logic and advantages to the widest amount of people.). They should be required to earn their place in influencing others because it is a big responsibility (Think about it. We can't just spew things out of our mouth without having a bigger purpose in it.)
Great leaders are defined by their ability to think for themselves and have a moral backbone. We saw both misinformation and lack of backbone creep up through our ranks. People simply followed and put our entire system at risk (likely influenced in some ways be foreign intelligence). Some stood up and they too the hit for doing so.
While one may make a political argument about this, I don't believe that is the case. It happens to Republicans, Democrats and society at large. It is part of who we are as a social species. However, we have big brains as humans and can step above that if we so desire. We can have a moral backbone and independent thought (I beginning to believe many people define nearly all of their opinions by someone else's logic and thoughts.)
I have also learned that our presidents should be the cream of the crop and we aren't electing people based on skill and character but by wealth and social status. This may be one reason why we are struggling to keep up. We had some good and bad presidents but we must ensure that every person we elect is going to lead our country effectively.
Going forward we will need to change because other nations will also figure out that the best and brightest should move forward and those who are not contributing should move backwards. They will get better at hedging their human capital and we run the risk of "politics as usual". We have to think broadly about building our society based on founding principles.
While we may have moral leanings on particular topics such as abortion and gun rights we need leaders that can step outside of those arguments to think systematically about the process of compromise so we can find solutions. Its a process and not a battle of bludgeon. When one side takes all we all loose. Leaders should have an opinion but more importantly decide issue or the best of everyone.
We also need leaders to think about the long term health of the nation above themselves. That is something many of our leaders are struggling with as they try and balance public opinion, internal party support, and donor resources. We have a great system and we need more great leaders to take lead roles in supporting that system.
I advocate for stronger education systems, mass innovation, true capitalism based on performance (not privilege), and diversifying our opportunities (No race or religion gets free passes or undeserved opportunities). Likewise I encourage people think maturely about what it takes to build a great nation and how they should be pushing people to be better (Nepotism and blind support wont' get us there). We have to build our advanced manufacturing, infrastructure, and be at the central value of the global supply chain. All of those changes require focus.....and that must mean put our eyes on a target and working together.
(Going back to this don't listen to me I have a Muslim sounding name....and that is a huge part of the problem....and why we see all types of social issues rising. Its not about my name but about how we treat each other and the rights of Americans to pursue their goals and dreams. How our institutions function and how we rally different people around core American values. Social class, racism, bigotry, and short sighted thinking are not beneficial to anyone...not even those who live by it.)
No comments:
Post a Comment