What a True Leader Looks Like

Photo by Sean Sweeney on Unsplash

The United States is in the middle of an identity crisis. Attempting to re-write or erase our past in favor of the social norms that rule today. It’s a challenging dilemma: how do we tell ourselves that some behaviors in the past aren’t acceptable without totally condemning those who lived in times when the world was different.

The Holocaust was only 80 years ago. It’s hard to fathom something like that happening in today’s world, but 80 years is an eye blink when looking at human history. The point I’m trying to make here is that we lived in a totally different world 80 years ago, even 10 years ago, and certainly 300 years ago when the founding fathers laid the groundwork for what America would become today.

We’ve essentially canceled Christopher Columbus — sure, historians of today would tell us he was an asshole. But the peak from which we sit and judge is so far from the world of 1492.

There’s been talk of removing Thomas Jefferson’s name from certain institutions because he was a slave owner. Same goes for George Washington. In both cases I find this woke reaction to be appalling and out of touch. Especially in the case of George Washington.

In today’s world I find it impossible to fathom someone who would cede power for the good of the collective union or voluntarily lead a rag-tag army from the frontlines…