Our Great Nation Has Work to Do

You think you know a lot about life when you are young, confident and brash. The simple fact is that you were only beginning to understand life and knew little about the journey you were about to embark upon. If you were truthful with yourself, you’d have to admit while taking your last breaths here on Earth that you were only beginning the process of truly understanding who you are, and who we are as a people in this place we call home.

Every day I wake, I understand just how little I know and how much more there is to learn. It’s therefore hard for me to understand how the 56 men who put their names to the parchment paper on which Thomas Jefferson penned the Declaration of Independence had become so insightful in so few years.

Now, I am not about to tell you that America is a “perfect” place, I’ve learned that during my short time here. We’ve made mistakes along our journey, but we are human, and as such, have worked to correct them. Even George Washington, our first elected President and the man known as the Father of our Country, referred to our nation as, “a great experiment,” in some of his writings. His actual words were: 

The establishment of our new Government seemed to be the last great experiment, for promoting human happiness, by reasonable compact, in civil Society. It was to be, in the first instance, in considerable degree, a government of accommodation as well as a government of laws. 

Washington went on to admit, “That the Government, though not absolutely perfect, is one of the best in the World, I have little doubt.”

Today, there are some in our nation who cast doubt on the elegance of Washington’s words or his insight on the creation of our Democratic Republic. I do not share that negative reflection of our Nation, and I am certainly not so foolish to believe we must burn down this “great experiment.” Instead of destroying it, we should learn from it.

As we enjoy the fruits of the generations that came before us, we must be cognizant of our challenges that lay ahead and our responsibility to provide the leadership, both home and abroad, to tackle those challenges.

Those challenges are substantial and mind-boggling. The elections that we face every two and four years are seen as “course corrections” on our journey as a nation and a people. Nearly 85 percent of Americans see us headed in the wrong direction, according to a poll taken by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research at the end of June 2022. That is a pretty staggering number.

This doesn’t bode well for the second half of what may be a one-term Presidency for Mr. Biden, which is seen as a disaster for the party that now holds both the House and Senate, as well as the Oval Office at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. However, without a strong plan, moving the nation back onto a solid track to regain our stability and respect on the world stage is not a given.

The mundane and hollow promises of a party looking merely to gain seats under the Capitol dome in 2022, as well as the possible control of the Oval Office, is a further recipe for disaster. The longer we stumble around simply throwing out insults and the same old hollow and stale promises, the more likely it is that we will be unable to return the runaway train known as government to a track of strength and prosperity for our nation, and the world. 

If you can’t see that the America we love is in trouble, you are wearing blinders. Our economic strength is slowly but surely being drained of its great potency by a government out of control. Do we lack courage to make the hard decisions that will place America on the path to return it to a position of strength? That will require us to tackle growing deficits, the staggering impact of healthcare costs, an immigration policy which is running amuck, a public infrastructure that is crumbling before our eyes, and a failing educational system.

I believe in alternative energy sources, but that path must be one which is reasoned and well thought out. Have we squandered valuable time in this effort? Yes, we have. Even the most vision impaired can see the path we are presently on is disastrous for numerous reasons. It’s time we start thinking as Americans and not just simply as Democrats and Republicans.

George Washington was right; this is a great nation, and we have much work to do. I am confident we may accomplish it together.