Listening to the eulogy for President George H. W. Bush, remembering the too-recent eulogy for John McCain, and anticipating the eulogy for President Jimmy Carter, I am struck by their shared commitment to country and the greater good. Each man in their own way sacrificed their personnel interests for us, and each paid a price for doing so. And I am sure that each would do the same again, even knowing the price to be paid.
Where are our great leaders now? All I see are loud talkers, special-interest sell-outs, clever politicians eager to appeal to our worst impulses. We’ve wasted the last 25 years mired in the politics of partisanship, meanness and pettiness, an addiction to power instead of principle. The character of the American people has been damaged by this political environment. One only has to read comments posted on-line on virtually any subject to see just how base and cruel many of us have become.
We were once global leaders, champions for peace and tolerance and democracy. We helped to rebuild Japan and much of Europe, and made it possible for China to become an important part of the world. We worked to end the cold war and foster a better relationship with Russia. To a great extent, we all shared in a better life.
Where is this spirit now? We’ve abdicated our role as a global leader. We’ve lost our ability to design and manufacture even the simplest of goods, like nails and screws and toothpicks. Our middle class is shrinking while the richest of us accumulate all of our wealth. We fight among ourselves over the pettiest of issues and declare one another as the enemy. We use the harshest of language to degrade and belittle each other, and then tell ourselves how clever we are.
We have lost our way. We are under attack on all fronts, from foreign influence in our elections to theft of our intellectual property, including secrets relating to our military and weapons development. We are ignorant of our history, unable to follow the simplest of logical discussions, focused on being entertained instead of becoming enlightened. Fat, dumb, and not very happy.
So I ask again, where are our great leaders? Pelosi? Schumer? Ryan? McConnell? Trump? I don’t think so. Obama? Not so much. The Clintons? Please.
Much is being made of all these newly elected Democrats, as well as a few who failed in their election bids but impressed with the closeness of their failures. Are any of these people going to become statesmen and stateswomen? Do any of them have a vision of what we as a nation could and should become? Or are they just angry and self-impressed, self-righteous without benefit of a cause?
And the Republicans, what have they shown us? A return to a fictional past, tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations, an unwillingness to provide balance to President Trump’s worst impulses, contempt for those who sit across the aisle.
We all want America to be great again, but we’re not going to get there following the path of the last 25 years. Each of us needs to reset our values and preconceptions, listen more and talk less. We need to remember who we once were and decide together who we want to be.
Eulogies can tell and show us what it takes to be great, but that in and of itself means nothing. It is up to each of us to receive the message and accept the challenge. Our collective greatness starts within each one of us.
Any thoughts?