The perseverance modeled in the second foundation block kept that experiment alive for the world. The willingness of current generations to meet the challenge of taking on the big tough issues we face is the question on which the continuation of the experiment now rests.
Our Challenge is to be worthy of America, its founders and those who have sacrificed to keep it alive and commit to keep grinding to fully realize the vision.
“There is nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured by what is right with America.”
Our task is to draw upon and model American Greatness to take on the big complex issues we face, for example:
1. We take on climate change and deal with the impact
2. We take on comprehensive immigration reform
3. We take on the economic revitalization of the middle and working classes and of rural America
4. We take on closing wage and wealth disparities
5. We continue to counter racism
6. We increase the health of the institutions and processes that support American democracy
7. We build our solidarity and minimize socio/political polarization and alienation that currently afflicts us
8. We maintain our ability to “see and speak the truth” – from a healthy media to managing AI
9. We ensure the basics – food security, housing, equitable cost-effective healthcare, etc.
10. We hold the line against aggressive authoritarian regimes that threaten the American experiment
Our toughest challenges require American Greatness, and they provide the opportunities to model it and continue to develop it.
To do our part and carry American Greatness forward we must act from courage and our best vs. acting from fear and our smaller selves. We will either act with confidence from our larger selves and go after the big tough, complex challenges that matter the most – or we will act from our smaller selves out of fear and make a lot of noise while focusing on issues that aren’t as scary (the ones that don’t require greatness).
Fear will always be present in dealing with life’s big tough challenges, but we must find the courage to transcend that fear and call upon our best and find new bests in the process. Our choice about acting from our larger or smaller selves is the key to our ability to take on the challenges we face and model American Greatness.
It has not been defensive or stuck in the past and has not afraid of the future. It’s always about moving forward, not backward. Every generation must carry American Greatness forward by taking on the critical challenges it faces, learning from the past, drawing on our best and “learning the way” as we push forward.
Every generation must pick up the challenge to take on the critical challenges that the world presents. Every generation must honor the past, acknowledge and learn from the mistakes, and tap into the courage, perseverance, and resilience at the heart of American Greatness – in order to continue on the path to fully realizing our founding vision.
We either say “yes” to the challenge” and act – or we say “no” and stand on the sidelines. What we choose matters. There is no middle ground. We can act in large or small ways, but we must act. We must take on the big tough challenges – together.
Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same."
Our challenges give us the opportunity to come together and bring our best to bear. They provide the opportunity to honor past generations who have pursued American Greatness in their times and to model American Greatness for our youth (and the world). For example:
1. Our belief in democracy – individual freedom and the responsibility to be an effective citizen
2. Confidence in our collective abilities and will – and our ability to overcome our differences and come together to deal with the big tough issues
3. The courage to directly face and take on the big tough issues where we can’t see all the answers
4. The perseverance to “hold the course” when it gets tough, and success is uncertain
5. The resilience to re-energize, to recover from setbacks and disappointments, and to consistently get stronger
The greatest danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high, and we miss it, but that it is too low, and we reach it.”
1. Understand and be inspired by our founding and our history of perseverance (and unapologetic about American Greatness)
2. Find the courage to commit to and model American Greatness, in large or small ways, through action
3. Act from our larger selves vs. our smaller selves – drawing on our values, courage, perseverance, willingness to risk/trust, and resilience vs. falling prey to fear, anxiety, and insecurity
4. Focus on the trajectory of our historical pursuit of American Greatness while being motivated by the remaining gaps
5. Focus on the big tough issues we face (climate change, the health of rural America, racism, poverty, etc.) vs. hiding by focusing on smaller challenges that don’t require greatness or complaining and tearing down our democratic institutions and processes.
6. Find the common ground on which to stand and use our differences as a source of creativity
7. Face any fear of the future and trust that we can go forth and take on the big issues and somehow find the right path and discover the capabilities required – even if they aren’t evident in the beginning of the journey
1. Continuously build and develop our institutions and processes (governmental and non-governmental) because they are what holds everything together and they must be maintained and improved, or they naturally decay
2. Constantly balance the natural dynamic tensions that exist between federal, state, and local governments as well as the dynamic tension between business and government, between individual rights and community well-being, etc.
3. Act with integrity to earn the trust of the American population
These are the individual and national qualities and characteristics that have sustained American Greatness, but they are not common. They are, however, what protects America as a true democracy and what we can model for the world. We must stay focused on them and be disciplined in our attitude and behavior if we are to carry American Greatness forward.
These are the times in which a genius would wish to live. It is not in the still calm of life, or the repose of a pacific station, that great character is formed… Great necessities call out great virtue."
