Why Our Leader’s Get An F
The Disappearing Politician
Our world is not ending in the apocalyptic sense. Our way of life is changing due to the lack of leadership. The lack of leadership throughout our political system is more troubling. I believe professional public servants are a good thing for our country. I was once one of them.
Unfortunately they let us down, not Hillary, she gave it her all, but the lone wolf strategy was not the proper approach. America was not ready to elect a woman so soon after having a black president. Which is why we have Donald J. Trump as P.O.T.U.S.. The moment I saw him in action I knew he would win. I wrote an article, The Truth Of Trump, long before any mainstream attention was on his bandwagon. I was not for or against his candidacy. I have a gift for these things, an insight that occurs on occasion. I also saw he was the only candidate showing leadership by doing more than repeating talking points. Talking points. Ugh. The bane of leadership. They prevent the person from actually speaking their mind, to show leadership. Leadership is disappearing
The Disappearing Politician
I believe in public servants. It is not easy or glamorous as political detractors would have you believe. It is more like a gilded cage built by good people with good intentions. The road to hell is paved with good intentions or so my Grandma use to always tell me growing up. It is not just in the political sphere, leadership is disappearing across every spectrum of our society. It is a rush to conform in order to avoid confrontation. Confrontation is therapeutic. The healthy discussion of ideas is the basis of the United State’s constitution protects.
The founding fathers of our country are always a point of discussion in modern politics. The irony is modern politicians do not show the tenacity or capacity to follow their example. Instead they ride the coat-tails of people who had a great idea two hundred years ago. I was a Missouri State Representative for eight years, four two year terms. I believe it is the duty of every politician to not live on the laurels of the past but to pay homage by creating new ideas to ensure a bright future.
I was serving a district they call urban. The politically correct way to refer to a city with a diverse population. More often than not we have let them associate it with the idea that it means black people, but the fact is Americans come in all colors, religions, and sexuality. Another fact, many of them live in cities. It is time to dispel the myth tying black and urban as one in the same. It is dumb. It is manipulative. As a Missourian in public office it was my job to make sure my entire state thrives not just urban areas.
To help my state thrive I wrote policy that all food with genetic modification should have labels to make consumers aware the food they are eating is not the food God made during the seven days of creation. If you are not the God fearing type, then understand science is altering food at a genetic level. This was six years ago. Last year Congress quietly put a similar bill to rest, ensuring future generations will never know the corn they are eating is no longer corn. It is food product with a patent held by a company. They are known as a GMO. Genetically Modified Organism. How can leadership argue they are preserving the American way of life when a quintessential aspect of American Mythology is the family farm. I was told that is none of my business because I did not understand agriculture. It is my business, because the people of my state are losing their livelihood to corporations.
Perhaps I would not have such a problem if corporations held our country and their consumers in the same regard as they do profit. How could Congress allow them to keep selling food that is potentially killing us all? I do not know for certain, but I have the right to my opinion. Our bodies are miraculous machines that processes what we eat so it can function. Introducing alien objects into that system causes it to malfunction. Companies believe if they label their food then consumers will not buy it. Profits remember. Except they are wrong. I smoke cigarettes everyday. I read the label once a month.
Do you realize that many countries no longer accept our food as aid to feed starving people. It makes them sick. Why do you think we loan so much cash instead these the large food drops they would show on television during my childhood.
It is not whether I believe in GMO’s are good or bad. Our wanna be leaders are always discussing taking America back to its roots. Instead of protecting the people’s interest they are protecting corporate interest. They are a part of a generation that has forgotten that fund raising is not the most important aspect of a campaign. The most important part of a campaign is going among the people sharing your plan to help keep their way of life in place while planning a future for their children. Majority of elections are done on a local level. The talking points mislead them as well as the public. They do not do their homework. That is why the myth of the “Good Old Days” works.
There Are No Good Old Days
The politician has been under attack for some time. All professions are subject to criticism but public servants are unique in the fact they serve at the discretion of the people. The people are fickle. They like to live their lives according to their routines. Everyone has a routine whether they admit it or not. A routine in the sense of getting up and going to work everyday, stopping at the gym before heading home, making a quick dash to the super market to pick up mozzarella cheese, before finally settling into their favorite piece of furniture to watch television. I made that up, but if you think about it, that describes the day for many people. That is not a bad thing. It means leadership is doing their job.
When politicians begin talking about the old days it is a signal that they are distracting you from current issues. The modern politician has become so caught up in the popularity aspect of the position they lose sight of their duty. The average person does not have access to the information that the leadership they gave the responsibility to make decisions. When public outcry occurs too many current politicians give in to the pressure despite the fact they know the public is wrong.
Abraham Lincoln was President during one of the most turbulent times in the history of the United States. He was under constant pressure from all sides, the public, political parties, and business interest. Lincoln understood it was his duty to serve the greater good of the country as a whole. The U.S. is a sum of parts working together to form a whole. A series of systems that all work together even though their is no direct connection. He went to war against his country men to protect the future of the country.
During the Civil War Lincoln came up with the Emancipation Proclamation. Banishing slavery was not just a moral dilemma, it had many ramifications. Ending slavery was also an economic issue because business was using slave labor. I am a black man. My family was lucky never to have felt the yolk of slavery. I know it seems odd for me to discuss slavery in such a manner, but I have to look at it objectively in order to explain leadership in a way for all people to understand.
What we do not discuss is the fact that Lincoln stood for re-election during this critical period. He won. That proves that even though people had faith in him to make the right decision even if they did not agree, they understood he knew more than they did. So many modern politicians use Lincoln’s name in their speeches to evoke emotion but few live up to his standard. It is not easy but being a great leader is not meant to be easy. He made a tough decisions that ultimately cost him his life. That is leadership.
Why Leadership Should Be Difficult
The Merriam Webster’s Online dictionary defines Leadership as the ability to have people your direction in business or an organization. How dull. What is more frightening than that definition is the fact since I wrote this post the definition they provide is not the same. I write many ideas by hand because they strike anytime, anyplace, and I like to be ready. As this article was marinating, a new leadership rose to power. The definition is either ominous or it may be paranoia, but the they now define leadership as the office or position of a leader. The Leader.
Too many people running for office worry about defining themselves as liberal or conservative. A leader can not put themselves a box. The fluid thinking of a great leader is essential to understanding an ever changing landscape. The people are responding to third hand information given to them from talking heads. It is our responsibility as leaders to stand up when it is difficult to provide answers to calm public fears. The modern news cycle feeds their fear 24 hours a day. The people are under constant assault from the modern media. The modern media is no longer the bastion of hope to protect the people from injustice. Journalism does not exist in the mainstream. It is not that journalist do not want to report but they do not control the system. They have families to feed just like everyone else. Everyone answers to someone.
What Modern Politicians Forget
The only people that our leaders must respond are those who put them in office. Not just those voters they know are in their favor, but every citizen. It is not about leading a segment of people to glory and success. To be a leader is to lead all people to success because that is the foundation on which our country was built. It is not easy to lead a group of people with different wants and needs. The idea is to understand that they are creating new ways for the system to provide for all people. Creating policy and implementing programs that push the country as a whole instead of only upgrading specific parts. It is time we recognize that all things are subject to change. With one exception.
The people are the source of power. That never changes.
