America: Imagine a World Without Her Part I

 

The gift of this movie is that it makes one think about our country and role in the world.  This is the first of a series of thoughts triggered by America: Imagine a World without Her.
I challenge you to tell me where would you go if you could not live here, in America? Whatever your ethnicity, where are people like you better off than here?


We spent our Fourth of July attending picnics, sharing time together and watching the movie America: Imagine a World without Her.

It is hard to tell our robust history in 2 hours, but Dinesh D'Souza did.  The movie starts by listing the indictments against America, but most impressively by letting those who are committed to the each indictment state their own case. Then Mr D'Souza calmly and factually puts those points of view into perspective.

I am often mystified by those who live here, profit here and hate being here.  In my travels, I often meet people who have moved to this country and can't stop telling me what was better where they are from.  My question is always, "What forced you to give all that up to be here?" Followed by "How long are sentenced to live here?"

The answer is most often that they are here for the opportunities that are not present in the country that they left behind. The very opportunities that would not and could not coexist with the government provided service or good that they are lamenting not having here.

When teaching I start my first class of the semester with a question and a rule.  The question--where does government's money come from?  The answer is simple, from you.  So when you say "I want government to pay for something." Tell me you are willing to write a personal check for that service, even if you will not receive the benefit yourself.  Because that is what you will be doing. And governments and corporations are made of people--us.

The rule the word government is always replaced with I or we, and free is never used as someone is always paying even if it is not the consumer of the good or service. You and me and everyone who is paid for a service or a good.

Mr. D'Souza shows Bono speaking at Georgetown University in 2012 about America. Bono said it best: Commerce is real. Entrepreneurial capitalism takes more people out of poverty than aid. Extreme ideology is part of the unholy trinity, poverty and drought are the other two. (Personally I also liked the fact that he gave power to the nerd. Us nerds think you.) He preaches transparency.  He preaches capitalism. He preaches realizing that the population in Africa is a market.  He condemns that idea of aid--that does not develop abilities.  Aid that feeds corruption is wrong and detrimental. 

While it clinches my colon that he credits the Pelosi's and Leahy's of the world, But he also gives great credit to President Bush for his work in funding AIDS treatment in Africa.  Weirdly, he see taxpayer dollars as the appropriate seed money for this capitalistic activity versus people giving voluntarily to the cause.

Interestingly, we are losing transparency and accountability in America. The America that Bono describes as an idea.  He states that there are other countries, but America is the only country that is an idea. Why does this Irish rocker know and appreciate what our own President and his party treat with disdain? Now remember, I said before that the government and corporations are people so we are the ones being treated with disdain.

Is America perfect or beyond improvement. No. America is made of individual people and people can always do better.  The greatness of America is that its aristocracy is fluid.  My fear for America is that we have and continue to create a permanent Aristocracy that is made up of "public servants" who hold power through their convenient interpretation of the very documents that protected us from the rise of a none merit based aristocracy.

We are the only country that corrects its mistakes through order and protects the rights of those with no stake in our government. What do you think would happen without us.

Next Part II the ability to end slavery.

Leadership

I have been thinking about the concept of leadership lately. It has come up in all levels of my life and interaction with others in the last month or so. A quote I saw from former President Bush made me realize what has been nagging me about leadership. It made it clear that the leader can not be the center of attention if a group, company or country is to survive and thrive.

He stated--

"A leader's got to understand the culture that you develop is not about you," Bush said at Saddleback Church in Southern California. "Organizations fail too often when the leader becomes the center of the whole organization. Your church succeeds because you recognize you're serving something greater than yourself."

For me this is the clear difference between Presidents of the past and our current leadership. When I listen to our President speak today, so often it is about “I” or “me” or “my”. Leaders are not above the group they lead, they are a part of the group they lead. There is nothing bigger than President Obama or a purpose more important than him in all of his speeches and actions.

It is the cult of personality—the separation of a leader from those he/she leads that creates failure. It is the lack of clearly articulated goals that all can buy into or reject that makes for the success of the team the leader leads. In the case of President Obama, he has failed to articulate goals for his team. This is not to say there are not goals, but if you disrespect the intelligence and independence of those you lead, it becomes very hard to have transparent, apparent goals. When the goals one pursues are in direct conflict with the goals of those on the team which you lead, the leader is forced to hope that personality is enough. Sort of like the magician, keeping your eye on the left hand so you won’t notice the right hand.

I once attended a speech by the first female admiral. She stated that you manage paper [information] and lead people. She also pointed out that you share credit for success, but take responsibility for failures alone, as a leader.

From President Obama to his cabinet to our elected officials, they seem to have this formula backwards. They take credit alone for successes and heap failures on everyone else from the voters (or our ignorance for not accepting their programs) to past administrations to the world just not recognizing their value.

True leadership involves accountability and grace.