I sincerely believe there is a chronic lack of imagination in American culture today. When John F. Kennedy, Jr., commissioned Americans to walk on the moon by the end of the 1960s, many thought he was merely a dreamer. Nevertheless, visionary leaders and stalwart pioneers followed him to his stated goal; thus, when Neil Armstrong's boot struck the surface of the moon in July 1969, they were present to enjoy the spoils of victory. Likewise, when Martin Luther King, Jr., proclaimed that Americans could live in a country devoid of racism, where everyone is treated equally, his was fashioned the work of fantasy. Fortunately, we find ourselves the inheritors of a 21st-century America that--though not completely free from prejudice and certainly no utopia--harbors more equity than has ever been experienced in world history. And who would have ever thought we could win a war with a near-peer adversary in as little as 100 hours? Few. But Norman Schwarzkopf did it with pomp and poise in 1991. As Americans, we enjoy a legacy of imagination and innovation that is worthy of reverence and emulation. Even so, I observe little imitation of this historic character today. The spirit of exploration seems to have been evacuated from the corpus Americana, and what remains is languidity, bigotry, bitterness, and infighting. Where are our great statesmen and leaders--those creative few who can inspire our generation? Where are the Mr. Kennedys, Dr. Kings, and great generals? Sure, there are some wonderful people in our world, but what we need today are catalyzers. The good news is I think they are out there, but like a Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Rainier, or Mt. Vesuvius, they lie dormant. Yet, with our political and international landscapes quickly deteriorating, I believe I feel rumblings of some future eruption of talent and statesmanship. Let's just hope they come before it's too late or before we are too calloused to recognize them.
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