A few years ago, my boss at the time and I were discussing a business owner we both knew. The company does very well financially. My boss said the owner considered himself popular due to his business's financial success - that the owner thought of himself as a success because of how much money his company made.
It should be noted that the owner wasn't well liked or respected. He went through employees like most people go through socks. His business process, policies and way he administered was inefficient and at times counter-productive. His management style was to belittle and bully. While his company did very well financially, mainly because of a contract with the state, the wages and benefits he provided to his employees were at the bottom of the industry standards.
My comment back to my boss was that I felt being a success, in my book, was to be beloved. That, to me, being beloved was something far richer than financial gain or profit. That being beloved is my idea of success. So, I looked up the definition of success, to get a better understanding of the word and how it relates to America. The definition that made me think about America the most is "the attainment of a desired outcome or result".
That made me think about America's success. What is America's Success? I think that America's success is the independence of its citizens to live life their way. It's the freedom to be who you are; not telling other people who they should be. It's about freedom of choice and liberty; to marching to the beat of your own drum; not conforming to a majority or a minority (unless you want to); it's being at liberty to be independent. That while we can all find groups or organizations or jobs or events that we belong to, it's our freedom of choice to be in those things that gives us those freedoms, that independence.
America's success is built on citizens obeying laws while fighting legally for change. Todays culture seems to be about making change by breaking laws under the guise of bringing about togetherness to get there. That course, as is being shown, will not be successful for America. The current climate simply leads to more division and less communication; more hate and less collaboration. It allows illegal activity to become the norm. It allows looting and rioting to be considered worthy actions towards positive change. Unfortunately, it's proving just the opposite.
You know what type of change adds to America's success?
Legal, boring actions.
Attend meetings; know and engage with your elected officials, your governing bodies; learn deeply about something to know the best course of action, and act legally on the course.
Do your research; talk to experts in the field; review various forms of information.
America's success is by its citizens working collaboratively on a common goal. It seems our politicians and elected officials have forgotten how to find common ground; it seems all they breed now is division and hate. We read all the time, "in our democracy...", which, while we can appreciate the intent, it's imperative to remember that America is a Constitutional Republic, not a democracy. In fact, it's important to know that the word "democracy" is not in the founding documents - the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the Declaration of Independence. That's a telling sign from our founding fathers. In a Republic, the law is the deciding factor; not the majority, not the masses, not the popular thing at the time. In a Republic, everyone is protected under the law. In a Democracy, the majority is protected under the law. When the majority rules, the minority get trampled.
We may disagree on some issues, but the success of America is finding what we have in common and working together to make positive change for all. I believe true Americans want what's best for America; true Americans want America to succeed. We true Americans believe that America's success is our success.
