Searching for a bit of inspiration in an uninspiring time I started reading Jon Meacham’s biography of Thomas Jefferson the other night and found this passage (and the cool Kindle feature of sending it to myself.)
I may be a chump…but it speaks to me and I think Meacham is right. Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Franklin Roosevelt, John F Kennedy, Ronald Reagan -these men all seemed to be driven by progress. JFK didn’t say we’re going to build a big wall to keep people out, he said “we’re going to put a man on the moon.” Ronald Reagan didn’t lament a country whose better days are behind it and try to bring it back, he said, “It’s morning in America.”
What all these people have in common is the belief that we can and should be better. What’s better?
- Better is health care bills that don’t cost more than your mortgage
- Better is fewer people being shot…every day
- Better is median household income going up in a meaningful way
- Better is nature shows that don’t leave the whole family at the point of tears (and not because they change the programming)
- Better is fewer people becoming addicted to narcotics and shooting up on street corners in broad daylight
- Better is also simpler things: better commutes, safer streets, cleaner water and more time with our kids
- But Better is usually hard and complicated work that is discussed by adults that act like adults
- And most importantly Better is often a little better…every day until someday things are a lot Better.
We can all do better than writing angry posts on social media or forwarding a snarky zinger to someone we already know shares our view. The 435 Voices podcast is about progress at every level. What needs to be better and what might be done about it. Please join the conversation.
We’ve had four episodes so far:
There is plenty of room for comments and if you’d like to be a guest or know someone who would be great to talk about better and has some ideas on how to get there drop me a line.