Calculated Thought in a Random Universe

Obama: Hope, Hype, Or Hero, He’s Only Human January 21, 2009

Societies like scapegoats because when everything goes wrong it’s that guy’s fault.  We love heroes because when we can’t fix the problem ourselves, at the last minute Superman will fly in to save the day.  Sounds like great material for a movie script.

We blame or depend on others because it’s easy and makes us feel good.  Doing the right thing is usually not easy nor does it make us feel good. Doing the right thing requires self-discipline, a characteristic that my high school calculus teacher Mr. Prins defined as, “Doing what you’re supposed to do, when you’re supposed to do it, even if you don’t want to.” He often reminded us of that as he called on us individually to solve problems on the chalkboard in front of the entire class…

With so much hype hovering overhead – the presidential pomp and circumstance enveloping Obama’s inauguration – people easily forget about self-discipline amidst a “feel good” frenzy.  In times of crisis, people hope and pray that things will get better.  With a new hometown hero in charge, people believe that things will magically improve.

Our problems, however, cannot be solved with the reliance on one human.  Fortunately, that same human recognizes both the importance of self-discipline and the power individuals working together with common, yet often forgotten, values.

But those values upon which our success depends — hard work and honesty, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism — these things are old. These things are true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history. What is demanded then is a return to these truths. What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility — a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task.

Believe the hope, enjoy the hype, honor the hero.  But the real question remains, what have you done to make America, and the world, a better place today?