I've been watching "Band of Brothers" over the last several weeks. What a remarkable (and true) story. The leadership demonstrated is palpable. The courage is infectious. The genuine caring--portrayed brilliantly by the actors and demonstrated through the interviews with the real people--is moving. The entire mini-series is almost the perfect tribute to what many call the "Greatest Generation" of Americans.
And while the mini-series follows a particular group of soldiers, the Greatest Generation moniker applies equally well to those in our society who manned the home front. They accepted rationing and the draft. They held rubber drives and scrap metal drives. They bought war bonds. They supported troops--not by calling for their premature withdrawal, but by supporting them through their trials, and loving them even more when they came home.
Each generation of Americans has advanced our society over the one before. Better health. Higher standard of living. Cleaner, more transparent government. More advanced technology. A stronger position in the world. Yet no one mistakes our current generation of adults as the Next Greatest Generation--despite the fact that we have advanced our stations in life faster and more completely than any other generation in history. We, the post-Baby Boomers, are notable only in our individualism, not in our collective strength. We have been called the Me Generation, and even the Lost Generation.
Why can't we be the Next Greatest Generation? That question has bothered me for some time in various forms. Rather than answer that with another diatribe about lost values or the sins of our American society, I would rather focus on the "why not--how hard could it be?" portion of that question. George Bernard Shaw, quoted famously by Robert F. Kennedy, said,
"Some men see things as they are and ask, 'Why?' I dream of things that never were and say, 'Why not?'"
So...why not? Why couldn't we, who are entering our peak production years, be the Next Greatest Generation of Americans? What would it take and how hard could that be?
There are many who have commented on a desire to improve our society, to return to values that have apparently been lost, to renew our sense of duty. Unfortunately many of these are self-help "gurus" whose prescriptions include a healthy dose of self-promotion for their books or classes or training or diets. Some are genuine thought leaders whose words ring more of wishful thinking than of pragmatic change agents. Finally there are other fatalists who say that America has had its day in the sun, and are already looking for the Next Great Society to emerge.
I reject all of those views. To me, America's greatest days are still ahead, and I intend to be a part of making those days come to pass in my lifetime.
Katharine Lee Bates captured how I feel in America, The Beautiful. Using that hymn as a construct, here are seven things that we can do--today, now--to grow ourselves and our posterity into the Next Greatest Generation:
"Crown thy good with Brotherhood"
Brotherhood implies unity, togetherness, and mutual service. Brotherhood cannot be attained alone--it requires others. We can provide brotherhood to our neighbors, colleagues and coworkers by serving them, and honoring their service to us and to others. Whatever I do in my private life, service to others--which, by definition is public, even when rendered anonymously--is a crowning glory.
"Confirm thy soul in self-control"
Where there is discipline, where there is order, where there is process, there the hand of God can be seen. Self-control is appetite suppression. Self-control is absence of consumer debt, or quick-fix mortgages. In short, self-control is adult behavior--delayed gratification, work before pleasure, savings before big screen TV's. All of those behaviors are within our control--we can change our behaviors and thus change our world if enough of my generation will learn to exercise self-control.
"Heroes...who more than self their country loved."
The country does not exist to serve you, but to provide you a place in which you build your own destiny. We should be guarding that place--both physically and spiritually--with every fiber of our beings. If not America, then where will be the bastion of these values? I do not pretend that America is the only place where virtue reigns, nor Americans the only ones who espouse it. But as a society, America still stands, as John Winthrop foresaw, as "The Shining City on the Hill," where democracy and economy combine to create opportunity.
That country is worth protecting. The idea that produced our country is worth defending for enemies, both foreign and domestic. These enemies include political correctness and the dumbing down of thought so as not to "leave behind" some people. They also include real enemies, such as terrorists and trade barons that would rob us of our prosperity. We can stand against those enemies in word and action.
"That sees beyond the years"
In order to help my generation, I can have vision. We need to take the Warren Buffett approach to things--he never invests for the next quarter, but for the next decade. The long view is always the right one, even if some short-term concessions must be made. Too often we take the short-term gain at the expense of real growth or change--and we're teaching our children the same principles. The Bible cautions, "Where there is no vision, the people perish." In our jobs, schools, families, communities and lives we can take the "long view" the view of real consequences not quick results.
"Paths be wrought through wilds of thought"
I love the imagery of "wilds of thought." How often do schools of thought change? Too often, in my opinion. The wilds of thought include fads of pop psychology, governmental decisions that affect only a fraction of the populace, and arcane economic theories such as "you don't need customers, only eyeballs"--the theory that both created and then burst the internet bubble. The Next Greatest Generation needs to hold true to those thoughts that created us. Equality, loyalty, hard work, sacrifice, shared joy--these truths are self-evident, but we sometimes ignore them.
"Selfish gain no longer stain the banner of the free"
Freedom of thought, speech and action does not necessarily produce selfishness, but they can. Things done for selfish gain do, indeed, produce stains on the fabric of our country. Enron will forever be a blot against aggressive new ideas. Watergate will forever tarnish political ambition. Slavery and racism are egregious forms of selfishness that we must never forget nor repeat.
So what can you and I do? We can continue to pursue aggressive new ideas with integrity, not greed. We can support politicians with idealistic realism, and work for candidates that espouse government service, not government celebrity. We can respect all men and women for who they are in their souls and character, and not some other characteristic that may represent only a fraction thereof. And we can demand of all with whom we come in contact those same things: service, respect, and integrity.
"Til nobler men keep once again thy...jubilee"
Each generation is the keeper of the flame, until the next one is ready to take it. We have allowed our Greatest Generation to keep that flame for far too long. It is time step up, to be courageous, caring, and true to the ideals that created our nation. Equality. Opportunity. Service. Patriotism.
It is time. Time for the Next Greatest Generation. Time for hope and change, not through hollow rhetoric but solid action. Thank you, Katharine Bates, for delineating a path for each generation to follow to keep that flame of our independence alive. It is time for America the Beautiful, indeed.
Recent Comments