What Are We Afraid Of

Monday, Oct. 5, 2009 | 11:52 a.m.

Recent events such as President Obama’s speech to school children and the lack of coherent debate regarding health care have caused me to question the American public. What are we afraid of?

The president made a back-to-school speech at a high school in Arlington, Va., several weeks ago. The speech was broadcast throughout many schools in the U.S., but the speech itself was only secondarily newsworthy when compared to the public uproar it caused over whether children should be forced to hear the speech. Our president was trying to deliver a message of hard work and hope to the next generation of Americans and, unfortunately, political games clouded his message. Considering that India and China each graduated more than three times the number of college students as the U.S. in 2009, it seems to me that education is a timely topic for our country.

Because of the uproar, I read the entire speech. The speech was well written and full of sound messages that, as a parent and employer, I believe are critical to the success of our economy and the future of our country.

For the record, I am a registered Republican and I cannot understand why many Republicans opposed the speech. One Republican was quoted as being concerned about Obama being the “Pied Piper,” leading our school children to socialism. Seriously? If teaching our children that hard work and staying in school will afford them the best opportunities upon graduation is socialist, then I stand accused. Education and staying in school is a value that my parents instilled in me, and I, in turn, am teaching my children.

This is an excerpt from the written text of the speech:

“And no matter what you want to do with your life--I guarantee that you’ll need an education to do it. You want to be a doctor, or a teacher, or a police officer? You want to be a nurse, or an architect, a lawyer, or a member of our military? You’re going to need a good education for every single one of those careers. You can’t drop out of school and just drop into a good job. You’ve got to work for it and train for it and learn for it.”

The message is not just about school -- it is particularly important to business as well. In business, you get what you work for. If you are prepared, your chances for success are greater.

As I travel and speak to business groups around the country, I am surprised by the apathy I see within the professional ranks. I know that we are going through one of the deepest recessions in our lifetime. I feel it, too. But shouldn’t that be a good reason to work harder and smarter?

A professional engineer at a recent event told me that his strategy was to sit and wait until the stimulus package kicked in and the government helped his business. Sit and wait. Sitting and waiting instead of working hard to develop potential changes that can be made to your business. Sitting and waiting seems like a failed strategy to me.

Maybe the entire country should have watched the president’s speech, unless what we are really afraid of is working hard and taking responsibility for our own destiny. Our Founding Fathers worked hard to define this country. Read the speech and apply it to your situation. What are you afraid of?

As the president said: “Where you are right now doesn’t have to determine where you’ll end up. No one’s written your destiny for you. Here in America, you write your own destiny. You make your own future.”

Keep singing that song, Mr. President.

I’d like to hear from you:

• Have you read the president’s speech?

• What do you take away from the speech?

• Are you prepared to work both harder and smarter?

Until next time …

Craig