One day, when my son was about 11 years old, he barged into the kitchen with wide eyes, eager to tell me something. "Dad!" he said with enthusiasm, "Do you know that if you put a frog in a pot of boiling water, it will jump out? But if you put a frog in a pot of cold water and slowly turn the heat on until it boils, the frog will never jump out?!"
My son had heard the fable of the boiling frog. Although I somewhat regretted to tell him that the biological basis of the boiling frog story was questionable, I explained to him that the real meaning lay in the figurative context of the story. The point of the story, I explained, is to illustrate how the small and seemingly insignificant changes in life, over time, can make the biggest impact on our lives. But when they happen so gradually, we do not feel these changes as they are occurring.
Years later, I found myself recalling the "boiling frog." In Washington, it is a similar story. For many, it’s often easy to lose perspective and it becomes even more difficult to shield against gradual changes that can eventually lead to catastrophic losses. This can be true for us as a nation as well.
I thought back to the roots of our nation. Our Founding Fathers had a vision for a nation free from the tyranny of England. They had no reasonable expectation of success, and they were unsure of what the new world would look like – they only had a dream. And despite the overwhelming chance of failure, of personal ruin, of death, they built a revolution. They built America. Our Founding Fathers were dreamers.
And for generations to come, America was a nation of dreamers. There were dreams that changed the direction of our nation: the dream of a transcontinental railroad, equality for African-Americans, putting a man on the moon. And there were dreams that changed the direction of a life: the dream of a home, a college education, building a better life for our families. We Americans believe that if given the opportunity, we can make our dreams come true. All we need is opportunity.
In the years that have passed, a subtle change in the mindset of America has occurred, a shift from a nation of dreamers to a nation of expecters. More and more today, there is an emphasis on gratification rather than fulfillment. An emphasis on the end result rather than on the hard work needed to get there. An emphasis on what I can expect rather than what I can dream.
The expecter mentality not only assumes opportunity, but that that opportunity will lead to success. I expect that I should own a home. I expect that I should have a college education. I expect that I should have a high-paying job. I expect that my children should go to the best school. I expect that I should have what someone else has, regardless of what I put into it.
And there is an even more alarming trend our nation is experiencing: the escalation from an expecter mentality to an entitlist mentality. An entitlist assumes that someone else is responsible for giving us both opportunity and success, regardless of our action or inaction.
Think of the days of our Founding Fathers. Imagine if our Founding Fathers were entitlists. Imagine if they expected England to give them their freedom. Imagine if they simply expected all they eventually had to fight for, die for and build with their own hands, hearts and minds. Imagine if, even worse, they were angry because they believed they were entitled to all they expected to find? How far could America have run on the engine of an entitlist mentality?
No nation can stay strong when we replace our dreamers with entitlists. It is the equivalent of cutting off a train engine mid-way. The train may keep going on the energy it has stored, but it will eventually slow. The weight of the cargo will weigh it down and it will creep to a stop.
While America may not be perfect, America is great. In a world that spends a lot of time focused on America’s power, her wealth and her military muscle, it is more important than ever for Americans to understand from where our greatness truly comes. It isn’t wealth, it isn’t military power, and it isn’t pride that makes a nation strong. It is their people – and their dreams. As we start a new year and a new session of Congress, America and her new leaders need to reject the entitlist mindset, and return to being a nation of dreamers.
