Great Opportunity Key To Making US Great
By Joe Molineaux
A catchy, easy to remember phrase that looks good on hats and t-shirts, that is broadcast, repeated and tweeted across the nation and all over the world has now set the tone and the extremely high expectations for the next four years. Before we can “Make America Great Again”, it may be a good idea to determine how great or perhaps how not so great we are today.
What are the criteria for measuring our collective and individual “greatness”? As a country, is it as simple as looking at our ranking with regard to global economic indicators? Is our place in the world solely dependent on our gross domestic products, our manufacturing, our trade deficits, our collective wealth, our employment rates or the test scores of our youth? As a state, is it how competitive we are with other states based on similar measurements like employment, commerce and taxes? As towns and cities is it our school rankings and real estate values? And what is it that makes an individual great?
If it was that simple, specifically as it relates to our country and those areas of measurement were at the heart of why we question our greatness, then the answer would be simple. We would work on fixing those areas to make us great. However it is not that simple. Spending time and resources on being more competitive in the world is a good thing but that alone will not make us great.
Although many decisions made by individuals we have elected, as well as individuals in key decision making positions, have had some negative affect on our global rankings in the areas mentioned above as well as many others, the one area that we do not officially measure or measure correctly is the real opportunity our country provides the citizens of our nation. Or is it our “great” nation? Our United States of America is great.
Over and over again we see individuals, groups, neighborhoods, small towns and cities overcome tremendous odds or obstacles to be successful and to become great. This only occurs because great opportunity exists to allow those that want to make themselves, their family, or where they live and work great. Those that reach a measurable level of success, whether they are individuals or groups, work to be great. They take advantage of every opportunity, identify every resource, and do what is necessary to be great. This includes making tough decisions or pushing beyond what is commonly considered the way things are done.
It is important that we do not simply accept the way things have always been done. It is also critically important that we do not accept someone else’s measurement of what makes us great. Greatness begins with identifying an opportunity or many opportunities and working to turn that opportunity into something bigger, better and brighter…. something great. How can we make it happen?
Unfortunately, we are not given the answers on how to make us great. The next question to ask ourselves is “What are we, as individuals and groups, given the opportunity to work towards greatness every day, doing to make ourselves, our neighborhoods, our communities, our region, our state and our nation great?”
Joe Molineaux is a writer, television and radio host, speaker, economic gardener, business strategist, consultant and founder of Biz Mx
