Greatness

Some say the USA is a “great” country. To be fair, millions of people consider their countries great as well. Some want to make America great “again.” I’m not sure they can define what greatness means, beyond “my country first” or “the way things used to be.” Some in high places seem to believe they can make the nation great. Some insist a small government will make America great again. However, if a government becomes too small for the size and complexity of a nation, it might be too weak to govern effectively. Haiti comes to mind. There, the government has been overwhelmed by rampant crime and civil turmoil. It’s indeed horrible what centuries of colonialism and corruption have done. It will take a lot of time and effort to right so many wrongs. Enough said.

Considering recent events, I’ve been asking myself, “What makes a nation great?” It seems to me we could also ask, “what makes a person great?” Rudyard Kipling offered some hints in his poem, “If.” (See below.) While some seek wealth, power, or fame, Kipling’s conception was far more noble than these. I believe a great nation is defined by its capabilities, much like Kipling’s fully functioning “man” in the poem, or in today’s terms, a “grown-up human being.” Here are ten ideas.

A great nation…

1. Provides for the defense of its people against all enemies, foreign and domestic.
2. Provides for its children, elderly, infirm, disabled, and its veterans.
3. Promotes the health and safety of its people – acting to prevent harm, now and in the future.
4. Protects personal rights as well as property rights.
5. Assures that everyone participates in the fruits of productivity and prosperity, not just those at the top.
6. Upholds the rule of law, not the desires of one man or one party.
7. Provides equal protection, equal opportunities, and due process of law, regardless of a person’s national origin, skin color, religious practices, gender, economic status, age, or any other superficial difference.
8. Secures the freedom of its people to speak, worship, express their ideas, travel, and associate as they wish.
9. Prevents factions from controlling or destroying society.
10. Assists other nations in their pursuit of greatness.

Please notice, “size matters not.” Nor does massive military spending. Also, notice that most of these ideas are already part of the US Constitution. The trouble is we tend to think we can’t afford to do these things, or maybe we lack the will to pursue them. We also elect people who aim to make themselves “great” at the expense of others. Those who seek wealth, power, and fame cannot make a nation great. Further, a “great nation,” like a “great man,” has no need to announce its greatness, much less brag about it.

My father and I talked about how politicians are very good at getting elected and re-elected but are not so good at running the government or serving the public. He once gave a Memorial Day address and jokingly expressed the hope that not all congressmen were as good at bringing home the bacon as ours was, or it would bankrupt the country. Principles matter. Ethics matter. Integrity matters. Honor matters. Statesmanship matters. Accountability matters. The Law matters. It seems to me we need leaders who follow the constitution rather than their party’s ideology. Kipling might have said, if we want to be great, we need the kind of adults this poem describes, but we are too often governed by children instead.

“If” by Rudyard Kipling

If you can keep your head when all about you

 Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,

If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,

 But make allowance for their doubting too;

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,

 Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,

Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,

 And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;

 If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim;

If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster

 And treat those two impostors just the same;

If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken

 Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,

Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,

 And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings

 And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,

And lose, and start again at your beginnings

 And never breathe a word about your loss;

If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew

 To serve your turn long after they are gone,

And so hold on when there is nothing in you

 Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,

 Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch,

If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,

 If all men count with you, but none too much;

If you can fill the unforgiving minute

 With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,

Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,

 And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!

“A strong nation, like a strong person, can afford to be gentle, firm, thoughtful, and restrained. It can afford to extend a helping hand to others. It is a weak nation, like a weak person, that must behave with bluster and boasting and rashness and other signs of insecurity.” – Jimmy Carter