How Can We Become Better U.S. Citizens
I am a concerned citizen. I love the United States, and it tears me apart to see the decline of our country.
I am a concerned citizen. I love the United States, and it tears me apart to see the decline of our country. It tears me apart even more because that decline is self- inflicted.
I believe that our country is in the mess that we are in because our current group of leaders are more interested in their careers, their parties, and getting reelected than they are in addressing the serious long-term issues that we face as a nation.
All countries and all organizations have problems. Those that achieve long-term success have leaders who have the humility to admit that their organization has problems and the will and the open-mindedness to solve those problems.
In our democracy, we elect our representatives, members of Congress, and presidents. They work for us—the citizens. Because we hire our leaders with our votes, and because they work for us, we must accept some responsibility for the mess that we are in.
Better citizens equal a better government. How can we become better citizens? I have devised a simple scorecard to help all of us become better citizens through an honest five-minute self-assessment. Give yourself a citizen score in each of the seven categories and then calculate the sum to get your total.
On a daily basis, we cannot control what the President does or what Congress does, but we can take personal responsibility for our individual decisions and actions in our everyday lives. The future of our country is up to us, citizens of the United States!
In 2011, I attended my son’s graduation from Marquette University. The keynote speaker was David McCullough, a renowned historian and Pulitzer Prize-winning author. It was a memorable message. McCullough’s final piece of advice struck me:
“And sometime, at some point, do something for your country.”
Davis McCullough – Author & Historian
I have been haunted by this challenge over the past 13 years.
McCullough helped inspire my 2020 book about the big challenges we face and the solutions that our national leaders should implement. One of my good friends read it, then made this comment: “I am a staunch Republican. I read your book and I agree with every one of your proposals. If you put smart people in a room, and put the facts on the board, 90 percent of the time, smart people from no matter what party will come to the same conclusions.”
I agree. It is my belief that most Americans—regardless of political affiliation —are ultimately interested in real solutions based on the facts and will support well-crafted efforts to solve our biggest problems.
Because I believe that our country is in serious trouble and because I believe that we can all make a contribution, I am releasing a new book, A Bold Plan for America, along with a podcast and a weekly blog. Between now and the 2024 election, I will also be posting interesting facts on my website and social media about our most serious challenges. I am hoping to accomplish the following:
- Provide a Plan for America. There is no candidate in the current field running for the highest office in the land with a comprehensive plan for our country. It is embarrassing. This book is my plan for America. It is bold, it is specific, it is creative, it is nonpartisan, and it asks for shared sacrifice. This is the type of plan that we should expect from any serious leader seeking the highest office in the land.
- Educate the American people. My plan takes on 14 of our biggest challenges. It is filled with FACTS and potential solutions. This book can help you think about your country’s future, it can help to educate you on 14 of our biggest challenges, and it will hopefully help you to become a better citizen of the United States
- Help to change the direction of the country. When you look at our challenges, and at the facts, it is clear to me that we need better leadership in our country, and we need to make major changes. I hope that this book will find its way to some of our leaders, and I hope that it will inspire them to think bigger about what our future could be.
- Bring Americans together. Our leaders run for office to win, and unfortunately, their campaign strategies are dividing Americans. It is my hope that this book can build consensus by discussing the facts about our most challenging problems.
It is my belief that if citizens become educated on our biggest challenges and become more demanding of our elected officials to make decisions in the best long-term interest of the country, we can indeed change the direction of the nation. I am a firm believer in what the anthropologist Margaret Mead said many years ago.
“A small group of people can change the world, indeed it is the only thing that ever has.”
Margaret Mead – Anthropologist
I hope you find the facts, along with my thoughts and opinions about the state of our nation, worthwhile, and I hope that many of us will use this crisis to reexamine the relationship that we have with our incredible country and become worthy of the title “Citizen of the United States.”
Download my new book for free or buy it Amazon. Please pass this blog on to your friends and spread the word!!
See ‘A Bold Plan For America’ for citations.