Let's talk about champions.
A champion is (thanks dictionary.com) "a person who has defeated all opponents in a competition or a series of competitions, so as to hold first place."
We are a nation built by champions. Our economy is founded on the idea that, competing in an open market, the company with the best combination of superior services and competitive price will eventually become the most successful. Our athletes compete against each other and against others from around the world, always vying to claim (or defend) the title of 'champion' for America. Our artists enjoy unparalleled freedom to express themselves- essentially 'champions' of self-expression.
Say the word "champion" and the first thing that most people think of is- high school sports. In high school, the Championship was all. Legacies were carved and history cemented with a win. Losses were crushing. Young men and women train tirelessly to be the best. Because who should win the Championship? The best. And because of their hard work, that's what Champions are- the best.
I think the quote at the base of the Statue of Liberty is 'Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses longing to breathe free.' Something to that effect. Thinking about that quote, I can't help but remember that a champion can also be defined as "a person who fights for or defends any cause or person."
Americans are defenders. We defend the tired, the poor, the old, the destitute. The American Spirit is one of hard work and self reliance, but it is also one of generosity. From the first pilgrims in New England who helped each other because if they hadn't, they would have literally died; to the obscenely wealthy Andrew Carnegie who put libraries throughout the developing country in the late 19th and early 20th centuries; to marches and rallies of the civil rights movement reminding us that the Declaration of Independence claims all men are created equal; each of us, as Americans, has a right and a duty to help, and to be helped. We are a great nation, indivisible- and that means everybody, from the richest to the poorest, the newborn to eldest amongst us, from Hawaii to Maine. We teach our children to stand up for what is right- to make choices not because they are easy, but because they are the right thing to do. The wars we are fighting, for better or worse, were on some level waged because we saw people that needed help, and thought that we could and should do the helping.
At the base of it, a champion is "a fighter or warrior." We love fighters. Americans are addicted to the contest. We root for the reigning winner because he is who we want to be, we root for the underdog because he is who we are. We hold up as national heroes the men and women who every day risk their lives for us- troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, firefighters, policemen. 'Fight for what you believe in' is a national theme that has appeared in thousands of books, movies, songs, television shows through the years. And why shouldn't we fight? We are Americans. We can do anything. We are champions.
At least, we were.
Somehow, somewhere along the way, we stopped concerning ourselves with actually being Champions. Some have been and continue to rest contentedly on our laurels, coasting on the comfort resulting from victories won over half a century ago. We haven't won anything recently. We made messes and then managed to extricate ourselves from them, thanks to the enormous amount of wealth and influence we wielded. And for a while, that worked.
But recently, our wealth is all but imaginary, and our influence has lost both it's luster and it's weight. We are just another country on the face of the globe, torn from within by pettiness and bickering, fatigued from without by commitments made to feed our own hubris. How are we champions?
When the men and women of this nation, this indivisible nation, are so selfish they are unwilling to lend a hand or dollar to help another in need, how are we champions? That public officials can condone- and let's be real honest here, when you don't stop something, you are condoning it- racial slurs being hurled at congressmen and presidents is not just sad and disrespectful, it's hardly the behavior of a nation that saw itself as the shining city upon a hill, the example for all to see. When we stop working to create the best, most diverse nation in existence- and stop not because we are exhausted from our efforts but because, for one reason or another, 'all men' suddenly means 'all men but this man'- we cannot claim to be champions.
We cannot be champions if we will not fight, and we have most seriously lost our desire to fight. We are fat on cheap fast foods and we are entertained by the flat screens that we bought on credit. "Ask not what your country can do for you, but rather what you can do for your country" as a national attitude has been replaced with "What have you done for me lately?" Never mind that
A champion would not sit idly by.
A champion would fight and struggle and defend this nation. If America is the greatest country on the earth- and I know many who would say that- then it is time to remind ourselves and the world just why we should have the privilege of claiming that. We must continue to advance. We must continue to unite. We must defend the title.
The responsibility is all ours. The longer we sit and succumb to reality TV and subscribe to a vigilant neglect of what is going on in the world around us, the harder and harder it becomes to get back to being the best. We are now the underdogs in a struggle against ourselves. It's a position we're used to and one we've done well from in the past, but underdogs can't sit back and wait for the next show. The time is now. The game has already started. The question is- where are the champions?
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