GRAND AMERICAN MISSION

We need a GRAND mission.
An AMERICAN mission.

I am as guilty of becoming sucked up into the daily negativity as the next guy. Sometimes more so. We/I occasionally lose sight of the big picture by becoming wrapped up in the minutiae. Therefore, I am going to write in general terms about something grand. Something uplifting. An event or process that can make us all feel special to be Americans.

Our problems are many. The war inside America (the real war is raging within our own city's on our own streets), the wars outside of America, energy shortages, pollution, population, alcohol, nicotine, illegal narcotics, just to name the household issues. However, it is also reality that when a condition is extreme in one direction, that any movement in the opposite direction is immediately noticeable. Using that fundamental princilple as both inspiration and measure, let's do something that clearly demonstrates that it is contrast that reveals the difference between condtions.

As a country and as a population, we are starving for something that we can sink our collective teeth into and swell with national pride upon successful completion. America needs to show the world that our potential has not diminished. We simply need a vision that defines a Grand American Mission. Let's emulate the actions of JFK and mandate the success of a very difficult goal. One that once achieved will make us swell with national pride and again gain the genuine respect of the world. And lets not make it an easy task. Any civilization can do easy. Lets reach far, high, wide.

Lets lead by example. Lets do this grand thing in parallel with the other daunting tasks that America has taken on.

What could this GRAND process be? Maybe we can create a look through the oceans depths mapping technology that would allow us to resolve every man made thing lying on the oceans floors. Can you imagine what may be revealed? How it could impact our understanding of history and how that knowledge could effect the lives of everyone on this planet? Or, how about develop a Pilotless commercial air carrier system? Sound outrageous? We are closer to that potential than you may think. The sky's would ultimately be far safer once men and women are only passengers. Maybe a Mars landing by 2012? Alternative energy by that same date? How about a financial plan to mandate and guarantee a college education for every legal American high school graduate? Or, my personal favorite, the Random Political Candidate Selection Act of 2007!  Tired of the same old names running for local and national office? Yeah, me too. Well lets select candidates randomly. How could it be any worse?

Regardless of what mission we nominate, the end result is almost less important than the journey to make it happen. The directions that we can go with such a program are limited only by the dimensions of our imaginations. And just like we grew as a nation as a function of taking part in and witnessing the space race of the fifties and sixties, we would again grow in kind from our modern equivalent. Because as it is right now as we near the new year, the atmosphere across America is chilling. We need a mission, we need it now, and we need it bad.

We cannot feel guilty about the rest of the world. We can continue to assist and lead by example, but we need to focus on ourselves. It is the geopolitical equivalent of needing to love yourself in order to gain personal happiness, or, the need to remain physically healthy so that you can better provide for your family and yourself. We cannot cure the ills of others, if we too are diminished by an equally disabling condition.

But it is up to us, We the People, to mandate the selection and implimentaion of such a mission. Our "Leaders" are clearly clueless. It is time for us underlings to kick the tires, light the fires, and put the hog in the fog.(An old aviation adage for time to take off regardless of the weather.)

What is YOUR idea for a Grand American Mission?