You can never stop it. In America change is as inevitable as the sunshine and rain. Change is required for America to breathe. Change happens when people are free. This is a foreign idea to many people around the world, even today. Yes, there are people who like the status quo and will fight to avoid change. They will always lose in America.
The rich are sometimes brought low when a stock market crashes. A politician may be brought down overnight. A preacher may be revealed and go from greatness to nothingness overnight. A pauper can strike it rich or a singer may become a popstar as an "overnight success". A new product can become popular in the blink of an eye. How many nations have such things? They are as common as dirt in America.
In America we discuss small trivialities all the time. Sometimes we discuss important policies and then in a moment discuss the hair style of a celebrity or the latest great physics discovery. We never limit ourselves. One day we may discuss a television show and the next the problems of nuclear war with North Korea. We have to when we realize America changes rapidly and we must adapt quickly. Anyone who cannot adapt has difficulties.
Some of the problems we face are dealing with other people around the world who cannot or will not change, people within America who like the status quo and fight to keep it, and people who have difficulty changing for any of a number of reasons. We have a saying "go with the flow" to describe an attitude which accepts changing events. In fact, we invent new words and concepts to help us adapt with a changing world. In a generation or so we went from the Great Dust Bowl to Silicon Valley. We have gone from bust to boom to bust and over again numerous times. It is so common that people in other parts of the world may fear that we are only lucky to be able to continue or that our final demise is only a day away. We know better. This is what we are.
One of the major tasks of politics in America is to enable or support the needed changes while protecting people from the worst effects. We have a 'safety net' to protect people from our 'free market' economy. We regulate corporate polluters, so the public health is not damaged and yet allows corporate activities. Could we have a personal computer world without allowing dangerous chemicals to be used in their manufacture? We have not prohibited PCs, but we regulate their manufacture and disposal of them. Could we have grown from an agricultural nation to an industrial giant without air pollution or child labor? Perhaps, but we balanced corporate activities with protections for the citizens. We also support new technologies to replace the older more dangerous ones.
Perhaps in some ways we are not the ideal world leader since the people of America are more familiar with and adjusted to this kind of dynamic environment than many other people in the world. We may sometimes go too fast or fail to recognize the needs of other people. That is a risk and yet the world generally accepts our leadership or even demands it in order to ensure the world keeps improving and adapting. What other nation besides America would have thought to invest in creating a United Nations for the purpose of ending all wars? That idealism and pragmatism are very real and have lasting effects.
Today America is again in turmoil and we cannot predict even tomorrow. That is very unsettling to the world. In America it can be seen as a great opportunity. Think of that! We have a phrase which has recently become popular in the world of politics which encourages us to "never let a disaster go to waste" since it is a time when great opportunity exists. Maybe we stole the idea from the Chinese. We are an amalgam of ideas, words, people, and cultures. Where some nations would be in constant conflict if faced with this, we nearly demand it in order to function properly. And while disaster is NOT required, we do not instantly reject this as a uniquely horrible event. It is a "learning moment" or just another time for change.
Did the change from agricultural society with slaves to an industrial giant and on to global leader in the world happen easily? No, but it happened. Will we always be a giant which leads other people to problem solutions? Perhaps, but we hope the world can learn from us to solve problems if we are not able. Sometimes we may even require the world to help us. The day of 9/11 was such a time and our friends did immediately offer help. I would wish that no nation should have to suffer that way.
The rich are sometimes brought low when a stock market crashes. A politician may be brought down overnight. A preacher may be revealed and go from greatness to nothingness overnight. A pauper can strike it rich or a singer may become a popstar as an "overnight success". A new product can become popular in the blink of an eye. How many nations have such things? They are as common as dirt in America.
In America we discuss small trivialities all the time. Sometimes we discuss important policies and then in a moment discuss the hair style of a celebrity or the latest great physics discovery. We never limit ourselves. One day we may discuss a television show and the next the problems of nuclear war with North Korea. We have to when we realize America changes rapidly and we must adapt quickly. Anyone who cannot adapt has difficulties.
Some of the problems we face are dealing with other people around the world who cannot or will not change, people within America who like the status quo and fight to keep it, and people who have difficulty changing for any of a number of reasons. We have a saying "go with the flow" to describe an attitude which accepts changing events. In fact, we invent new words and concepts to help us adapt with a changing world. In a generation or so we went from the Great Dust Bowl to Silicon Valley. We have gone from bust to boom to bust and over again numerous times. It is so common that people in other parts of the world may fear that we are only lucky to be able to continue or that our final demise is only a day away. We know better. This is what we are.
One of the major tasks of politics in America is to enable or support the needed changes while protecting people from the worst effects. We have a 'safety net' to protect people from our 'free market' economy. We regulate corporate polluters, so the public health is not damaged and yet allows corporate activities. Could we have a personal computer world without allowing dangerous chemicals to be used in their manufacture? We have not prohibited PCs, but we regulate their manufacture and disposal of them. Could we have grown from an agricultural nation to an industrial giant without air pollution or child labor? Perhaps, but we balanced corporate activities with protections for the citizens. We also support new technologies to replace the older more dangerous ones.
Perhaps in some ways we are not the ideal world leader since the people of America are more familiar with and adjusted to this kind of dynamic environment than many other people in the world. We may sometimes go too fast or fail to recognize the needs of other people. That is a risk and yet the world generally accepts our leadership or even demands it in order to ensure the world keeps improving and adapting. What other nation besides America would have thought to invest in creating a United Nations for the purpose of ending all wars? That idealism and pragmatism are very real and have lasting effects.
Today America is again in turmoil and we cannot predict even tomorrow. That is very unsettling to the world. In America it can be seen as a great opportunity. Think of that! We have a phrase which has recently become popular in the world of politics which encourages us to "never let a disaster go to waste" since it is a time when great opportunity exists. Maybe we stole the idea from the Chinese. We are an amalgam of ideas, words, people, and cultures. Where some nations would be in constant conflict if faced with this, we nearly demand it in order to function properly. And while disaster is NOT required, we do not instantly reject this as a uniquely horrible event. It is a "learning moment" or just another time for change.
Did the change from agricultural society with slaves to an industrial giant and on to global leader in the world happen easily? No, but it happened. Will we always be a giant which leads other people to problem solutions? Perhaps, but we hope the world can learn from us to solve problems if we are not able. Sometimes we may even require the world to help us. The day of 9/11 was such a time and our friends did immediately offer help. I would wish that no nation should have to suffer that way.
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