United

No matter what ANYONE says, size DOES matter.  My feeling is that size is the reason behind the trouble with the United.  Having spent much of my life as some sort of leader.  I have failed miserably in some cases.  I have made many mistakes.  I have shouldered the burden of errors in judgment and offenses to others even when not my responsibility.  I have learned and grown; size matters.

I have grown greatly and I have found that one of the most important ingredients in leadership is welcoming members of the group and joining all together toward a common goal.  Mistakes have offered me opportunities to understand more about the world and have forged me into a better leader.  Making mistakes has allowed me to learn how to unite groups of people better and be successful at improving each person’s role as well as allowing them to improve themselves.

United is the easier the smaller the group.  United becomes hugely difficult if the group is large, larger is not better, in this instance anyway.  The more ingredients the more difficult for the ingredients to work together and produce a meaningful and long lasting Union.  The larger the pot of soup the more homogenized and bland the result.  History has shown that the larger the union the closer the union marched to extinction:   The Roman Empire, the British Empire, the Ottoman Empire and now the United States.

The United States has made many mistakes in judgement, in treatment of it’s citizens, in how it has acted with others (countries) and in how it has grown.  Unfortunately, The United States didn’t have a chance to learn from their mistakes (genocide, slavery, sexism etc…) while the United States exploded in size.  As much as I love the United States and am proud to be an American, I am incredibly sorry to admit that, as a country, we have failed at the “melting pot” that was a suggestion as the ethos of our origin.  The promise of a better place for others who are bringing their language, culture and beliefs melted their language, cultures and beliefs away in the effort and goal for assimilation.

Size does matter.  Dialing back, individuals need to reflect upon their individual role in the whole of the Union.  Sadly, if individuals do not grow in their own ways and how they interact with the whole and others the United States will find the results that other empires did.  Become bigger, get better and allow yourself to be a large part of a success of the whole.