I wanted to follow-up on a post from earlier this year, "The first step is to clearly state the problem...", which I started with a video clip from the premier episode of the HBO television series, The Newsroom, which aired on June 24, 2012. The scene begins when a fictional television news anchor named Will McAvoy (played by the actor Jeff Daniels) was asked the question, "Can you say why America is the greatest country in the world?" McAvoy replied, "America is not the greatest country in the world." When asked to elaborate, he launches on a diatribe about all of the statistics that prove that America is not the greatest country in the world, many of which I reviewed in my post.
I failed to mention that in the scene, McAvoy was speaking to a group of college students at Northwestern University, and the individual who originally asked him the question was a student there. McAvoy unfortunately was mean to the student, calling her a "sorority girl" and saying that she was clueless and a member of the "Worst. Period. Generation. Period. Ever. Period."
At some point in the second season of The Newsroom, the college student, named Jenna Johnson, applies for an internship, which sets McAvoy off once again. Here's a video clip of the scene, appropriately entitled "Sorority Girl No More". When McAvoy asks Jenna why she is applying for an internship, she tells him that she read an article about him that talked about the "greater fool". She tells McAvoy, "I want to be one."
Remember that I have never actually watched this television show. I didn't understand the context or the reference to the "greater fool", which is actually an economic theory which suggests that one can sometimes make money through speculation on overvalued assets — items with a purchase price drastically exceeding the intrinsic value — if those assets can later be resold at an even higher price. The hope here is that if you are foolish enough to purchase the overvalued asset, you can find an even "greater fool" to sell it to at a higher price, making you a nice profit.
The tenth and final episode of the first season is called "The Greater Fool", which is actually the title of a cover story written about McAvoy in a fictional edition of New York Magazine (which the character Jennifer claims to have read in the scene from season 2 above). In this episode, McAvoy's fellow news anchor, Sloan Sabbith, tries to console him about the article, explaining "The greater fool is actually an economic term: it’s a patsy...For the rest of us to profit, we need a greater fool, someone who will buy long and sell short. Most people spend their lives trying not to be the greater fool: we toss him the hot potato, we dive for his seat when the music stops. The greater fool is someone with the perfect blend of self-delusion and ego to think that he can succeed where others have failed. This whole country [the United States] was made by greater fools."
I have to mention one last pop culture reference to fully set up the scene, "Sorority Girl No More". After Jenna says that she wants to be a "greater fool", McAvoy points to his colleague and says, "Camelot, she's the kid at the end of Camelot." Here, he's referring to the musical Camelot about King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. At the end of the musical, the Round Table has disbanded and the kingdom is falling apart. Arthur becomes disillusioned - all of his lofty ideals for a Golden Age of moralistic men has come to ruin. When all seems lost, Arthur encounters a boy named Tom of Warwick, who has come to join the Round Table. Tom declares his fealty to King Arthur and all of the ideals that he once stood for. Once again inspired, Arthur tells Tom to run and tell everyone about Camelot. His hope for Camelot to live on in the hearts and lives of all is revived. In other words, McAvoy's hope for America is once again revived.
McAvoy asks Jenna to ask him the question ("What makes America the greatest country in the world?"). When she reluctantly asks him, McAvoy answers, "You do." He then proceeds to hire her on the spot.
There's a lot of talk and concern about what we are leaving for future generations in this country. There's just as much talk and perhaps even greater concern about whether the next generation will be able to respond. From what I've seen, we are in good hands. I was once again reminded of this fact when I saw this scene. America may not be the greatest country in the world, at least based on all of the statistics. But what makes us great is the "can do" attitude of the next generation.
I want to finish today's post with a passage from Sea Stories: My Life in Special Operations by Admiral (retired) William McRaven. Admiral McRaven is talking about a time when he visited all of the wounded soldiers and sailors that were in a military hospital in Germany. He talked about how all of the soldiers and sailors, some of whom lost eyes, arms, or legs, always asked when they would be able to go back to their units. They never once complained about their situation, and they always told Admiral McRaven that they would be "just fine." In response, Admiral McRaven wrote the following passage in his memoir:
If a nation is to survive and thrive it must pass on the ideals that made it great and imbue in its citizens an indomitable spirit, a will to continue on regardless of how difficult the path, how long the journey, or how uncertain the outcome. People must have a true belief that tomorrow will be a better day - if only they fight for it and never give up. I saw this indomitable spirit in my parents and those who lived through the Great Depression and World War II - and I saw it again in the soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines whom I served with in Iraq and Afghanistan. And later when I was the chancellor of the University of Texas system, I saw it in equal amounts in the young students who sat in school-houses across Texas.
From the battlefields to the classrooms, I have seen the young men and women of this generation, the oft-maligned millennials. They are supposed to be pampered, entitled, and soft. I found them anything but. They are as courageous, heroic, and patriotic as their parents and grandparents before them. Those who fought and died or were wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan are the same young Americans who are building our bridges, finding the cures, and teaching our youth. They are the men and women who are volunteering to wear the uniform, fight the fires, and protect the people. They are not like my generation. They are better. They are more inclusive. They don't see color, or ethnicity, or orientation. They value people for their friendship and their talents. They are more engaged. They will not stand by and watch bad things happen to good people. They are more questioning. They want to know why. Why are we going to war. why are we increasing our debt, why can't we do something new and different? They are risk takers, entrepreneurs, givers of their time and energy. Above all, they are optimists - and as challenging as the times may seem right now, this generation believes that tomorrow will be a better day.
I am convinced that history will someday record that these young Americans were the greatest generation of this century, and I know, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that we will all be just fine.
To the next greatest generation, when I am asked, "What makes America the greatest country in the world?" I answer, "You do."
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