Gallup
recently asked about pride in America. The
results show a large gap between the parties with Republicans having much more
pride in America than Democrats. So isn’t
it a problem that the people with the least pride in the USA control all of our
major institutions? You bet it is.
The fundamental rule of management is that you want the
people at the top to be dedicated and enthusiastic about the organization and
its mission. If you are in business, you
want the CEO to be a
relentless optimist, a cheerleader for the company. How confident or dedicated would you be in
your work if the CEO of your company were constantly running down the organization? Not too much I suspect.
Or consider your house of worship. You wouldn’t want your parish priest, rabbi or
pastor to be a non-believer or atheist. Unless it’s clear that the leader passionately
believes, followers won’t believe or follow either. The pews will be empty.
However, when it comes to America’s major institutions, the fundamental
rule of management is turned on its head.
The people that control all the major institutions of
American life are the people that have the least pride in the United States of
America.
Below are the results from Gallup regarding pride in America. Barely half of all Democrats are very or
extremely proud to be American versus 84 percent of Republicans.
Or looked at it another way, 48 percent of Democrats are
just so-so on the country we live in. They
say “meh” about the USA.
Yet the Democrats that control all our major institutions: Hollywood,
the media, higher education, primary education, the arts, administrative government
and in the last few years the military and big business too.
Ponder this: In the 2020 presidential election, Democrats
received 92 percent of the vote in the District of Columbia. That percentage is far higher than in any
state (next was Vermont at 66 percent). If
DC Democrats are like Democrats nationally (if anything, DC Democrats are more
liberal) then it’s likely the case the bureaucrats that run our national
government have less pride in the country than any comparably sized group
anywhere in the United States. How
messed up is that?
The reason that most Americans believe that the country is
on the wrong track is that the wrong people, the people with the least pride in
the USA, are the ones running every major institution in America.
We need to get back to management rule number one; have
people that believe in and take pride in America be the ones in control of our
major institutions if America is ever to be a great country again.
