We are no better than Don Quixote as he chased the demons he saw in windmills as we become drunk on the hysteria and mirage of American greatness. While he blamed magicians for his confusion and failure, we blame minorities and immigrants. We are no different; only our delusion is different.

Neither the Constitution, nor Preamble, professes any illusion of aspiring to greatness. The Founding Fathers’ writings in the Federalist Papers are silent on any desire for national greatness. These men, willing to risk everything, openly professed a desire for an independent nation. A nation recognized and respected as an equal by all the world’s other nations. They weren’t so egotistical to wave the vain flag of greatness or superiority.

Yet today, we insanely strive to regain something we never had, were, or will be. We are drunk on our delusions and egos. Being ‘great’ is a fixation of one’s ego. It is not real. It is our fantasized view of ourselves. Something which, when unachieved or perceived to be lost, we blame everyone, anyone, but ourselves. Like Don Quixote blaming mystics and magicians, we lash out at everyone but ourselves. Ironically, we blame them for something that never was and can never be.

We are a country with many admirable traits, traditions and rich in resources and intellect. We are like almost every other country in the world. We all have our national pride, but our national ego is more of a liability than an asset. When working internationally, the first and biggest hurdle to overcome is not being the ‘arrogant, ugly American’ as we are known worldwide.

How do you determine ‘greatness?’ As a nation of immigrants whose foundational economy was built on the backs of slaves, should our measure of greatness be the number of immigrant families we disjoined and caged or how we showed compassion? Is our historic and persistent racism a criterion of greatness? Is the denigration of minorities and the perpetuation of our domestic caste system our yardstick? Is the benchmark the number of citizens in the wealthiest Caucasian country suffering in poverty? Is it the number of books and ideas we can ban or sequester? Is the measure the need for a nanny state because we don’t trust half of the population to make their own decisions on healthcare? Or maybe it is our growing affinity with authoritarians and dictators rather than democracies? Democracy isn’t dead but authoritarianism is a growing plague. Democracy conquered communism and now seems focused on conquering itself. A country boasting about greatness should have addressed and resolved these inequities decades ago. However, what we have shown incredible greatness in is our ability to deflect, ignore, and our propensity to find scapegoats for our failures.

While we are a blessed nation, no country is great at everything. They all have strengths, weaknesses, and blind spots. The pragmatic salient question might be, ‘Should America strive to be average or average at all things?’ If we are average, we rationally acknowledge there are those better than us in some things, and we are better in others. By being average at all things, we surrender those areas in which we can be superior.

Our desire and aspiration to be Great should not cloud the realization that we are one among many in this world. Our founders knew this, and they promoted internationalism, not isolation, to gain acceptance and influence. They didn’t strive for dominance but for mutually beneficial relationships. In our drunken, intoxicated state of euphoria, touting our Greatness, let’s hope we ultimately don’t drive ourselves to Mediocrity.

Maybe our Greatness should be our ability to cast an eye over our shoulder to see how far we’ve come, accept where we are, and then turn to look forward with a vision of where we should be. Sober love of country over drunken delusions.

Editor’s Note

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