I’m a
cynic, I admit it. If there’s a cynical comment to be made, you can count on it
coming out of my mouth. It’s probably one of the reasons I describe myself as a
“flailing Buddhist.” I just can’t let stupid stuff go by without some kind of
observation.
There
is a belief in organizational development circles that a weakness is actually a
strength taken to the extreme.
For
example, flexibility is considered by itself to be a strength. But if one is
too flexible they run the risk of being thought of as unable to take a stand,
wishy-washy. And that’s not a good thing in business.
If
that theory holds true, then a cynic is simply an idealist who has been
disappointed one time too many. Or constantly.
I
recite this preamble because an acquaintance of mine asked for a post on What’s
Great about America! (This came about after reading my post about bias. I
wonder if they’re related?) Here’s my shot. For your reading convenience, my
cynical take is included after each section, parenthetically and in red italics so
you can skip it if you’d rather focus on nothing but the positive. (It’s just
one more service I provide!)
What’s
great about America
 |
| America the Beautiful! |
Land:
America encompasses 3,794,083 square miles including water (lakes, ponds,
rivers) and the beautiful views, abundant resources, vast plains, sturdy
mountain ranges, and verdant valleys make it a wonderland that is the envy of
much of the rest of the world. It’s no wonder that Americans dream big; our
homeland almost commands us to do so!
(As I
write this, our new President has signed an executive order reinstating the XL
and Dakota pipeline access projects to completion. So, some of that pristine
stuff is now at risk but no sense worrying about that now. He’s also chosen,
for head of the EPA, a person who has filed suit dozens of times against the
organization he’ll head. How convenient. Nothing to see here, folks!)
Freedom:
Our 241-year-old experiment in democracy continues on its journey, with the
taste of freedom in every citizen’s mouth. The First Amendment to our
Constitution guarantees each of us that:
Congress shall make
no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free
exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the
right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a
redress of grievances.
 |
| Word! |
Never was this more in evidence than on January 21, 2017 when
enormous crowds of peaceful protesters (majority of females) gathered in cities
across the land to stand up for the rights of everyone: women, LGBTQ, poor,
Black, Latino, immigrants all were called out and told they would be taken care
of. In solidarity, marches took place in over 500 cities and countries around
the world with the same message.
(Our new President, has taken to Twitter to explain to
everyone that his Inauguration crowd was bigger and, besides, didn’t we just
have an election? Why didn’t these people vote? He later stated that demonstrations
were the backbone of democracy, or something like that. My feeling is, if you’re going to have an
argument with women about size, you better bring the goods and the numbers show
he didn’t. He’s also been in a running battle, and these are his words, with
“mainstream media” because he says they are purveyors of fake news. Really? I
guess that’s just because he ran for President and no one likes him or
something. Perhaps he’s confusing the editorial pages with the news pages. The
administration has shut down various government agency’s ability to tweet,
announce, or otherwise communicate with the outside as they “develop their
policies to match the new administrations goals.” Some people are saying, first
step to autocracy. I prefer, “first step to a brave new world.” Pun intended!)
Wealth: The American economy has been the largest on earth
for decades, only recently being challenged for the top spot by China in the
last few years. Our capitalist system has allowed average people to become
millionaires and billionaires starting businesses, developing real estate. Some
became millionaires by working their way up the corporate ladder from the mail
room to the board room! A recent example of entrepreneurism at its best is shown
in the film The Founder, a story about Ray Kroc who discovered and improved a
small burger joint, turning it
into a conglomerate and becoming the CEO of
McDonalds; but only after failing in business several times right into middle
age before finally becoming successful.
 |
| Cabinet members will see you now! |
(How wealthy are some people? Well, according to sources, the
wealthiest 80 Americans have more wealth than the bottom half of the population
combined. Some very wealthy people are being tapped for Cabinet positions. I’m hoping
the new Administration’s main goal will be to teach everyone else how they did
it, themselves. As opposed to continuing to make it easier for them and their
ilk to gain more wealth. Right?)
Equality: Our Constitution guarantees every American many
rights, including equality in the eyes of the law. This is the cornerstone of
democracy.
(Of course, that’s taken a bunch of amendments to get here,
and the Equal Rights Amendment – guaranteeing the rights of women – never was
passed. Some say, what’s the big deal? But women still only earn 80% of men, on
average, in the same position; blacks earn 74.6% of whites in the same
position. Some of my female friends tell me they have to work twice as hard and
have twice the performance to be considered the same as men. Fortunately, they
say, that’s not that hard.)
Healthcare: Everyone in America has access to healthcare in
this country. Truly. State laws require hospitals to provide healthcare to
anyone that comes into their emergency rooms, even those who are unable to pay.
So, everyone has healthcare available to them. The Affordable Care Act was
passed in an effort to provide the opportunity for more people to have health
insurance so that they wouldn’t go to an emergency unit for care and, thus,
reduce the overall cost of healthcare. According to a nonpartisan research team
study, that has occurred and the cost curve has been bent down. In other words,
the act was at least partly successful in it’s goal.
(And still, as I write this, our new President has taken the
time to sign an executive order to begin to repeal, not tweak, repeal this law.
Because this law has “killed jobs” (sorry, it hasn’t) because it’s not providing
coverage (sorry, that’s false) that you couldn’t “keep your doctor” (that’s
true in some instances). What is particularly bothersome to me is that no one
is pointing out that healthcare costs continue to rise and are at the point of
being unsustainable – 19% of the US GDP. The ACA was an attempt to slow that
down and was only marginally effective. What we really need is a complete
overhaul of our system – kind a moonshot project – and I don’t see this Administration
and Congress having the skills/desire/motivation to pull it off; at least not
as long as lobbyists keep filling their pockets. Here’s to hoping I’m wrong!)
Education: Our public education system is designed to provide
an education to all kids. A number of acts over the years have worked to make
the system better and better. No Child Left Behind, passed under President Bush
(43) was designed to provide quality education to those who might otherwise be
unable to get one due to being in the poorest part of the population. Our
colleges and universities are outstanding and many are among the finest in the
world.
 |
| Psst. Her pockets are Yuge! |
(No Child Left Behind, while being noble in its goal, has
turned out to promote mediocrity thus reducing the quality of education. It
seems to me that many states, in their efforts to improve public education,
have done the opposite by working to standardize so many things that good
students are slowed down. They’ve also focused almost entirely on the notion
that education is an expense rather than an investment and that has eroded the
motivation for people to go into public school teaching as salaries remain
stagnant and teachers are made to teach to tests instead of helping people
learn. But I’m sure our new Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos, will fix all
this. During her confirmation hearing she failed to answer a number of
questions correctly, some that are taught in first year teaching courses. Hell,
I know the answers and I’m a trainer! She was confirmed on a historic
tie-breaking vote by VP Mike Pence on the strength of: She had donated over
$200 million to GOP legislators. I’m sure this will all work out, just fine!)
Opportunity: In America, every child that is born in this
country can grow up and become President, one day!
(And now that we’ve proven this aphorism to be true, can we
never do this again?!?!?!?!?!?!?)
In closing, I can say that America is already great. Now, can
we agree as a people not to eff it up from here? Please?
