When presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain met for their town-hall style second debate, they fielded a predictable lineup of questions on the economy, health care and foreign policy. One question submitted by a self-described 78-year-old child of the Depression, however, stood out from the standard debate fare. "Since World War II, we have never been asked to sacrifice anything to help our country, except the blood of our heroic men and women," Fiora from Chicago said. "As president, what sacrifices will you ask every American to make to help restore the American dream and to get out of the economic morass that we're now in?"
Sacrifice --- now that's not a word you'll hear too often in this presidential race. Neither Obama nor McCain, however, seemed quite prepared to talk about it. Everyone knows you're not supposed to ask the American people for anything when you're running for president. You're supposed to promise to give them things.Watching the ensuing verbal acrobatics as both candidates attempted to call for sacrifices without really calling for anything was darkly comical. It was a stark reminder that we've come a long way since the days of "Ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country."
McCain went first, asking Americans to understand that some government programs would have to be cut, and that a spending freeze on everything but defense, Veterans' Affairs and some other vital programs was a possibility. Fair enough, but he immediately backtracked, saying, "Look, we can attack health care and energy at the same time. We're not rifle shots here. We are Americans." And Americans, like spoiled four-year-olds, are used to getting what they want.
Obama followed by talking about cutting energy consumption and joining the Peace Corps. His idea of sacrifice, however, involves the government "providing incentives" for Americans to reduce their energy usage. Parents of those four-year-olds know all about using bribes to coerce cooperation. Sadly, the men who want to lead our country don't expect better than that from us.
I'm far from the first, and surely I won't be the last, to point out the self-centeredness that has characterized American culture of late. What is especially frustrating right now, though, is the candidates' willingness to buy into America's spoiled-brat persona. Now, in the midst of an economic crisis that spiraled out of control after small-town Americans and big-corporation Americans alike grew irresponsibly greedy, would seem to be the time for a leader with the courage to call us out on our bratty behavior.
Both candidates have chosen instead to pander to our childish demands. Both propose plans to expand government programming while simultaneously cutting taxes. When asked if they will have to give any of this programming up in light of the economic crisis, both deftly sidestep the question.
In another example of following Americans' self-indulgent lead rather than improving society, neither candidate has been willing to put blame for the credit crisis on American people who didn't bother to research the loans they were taking out. It's always, in Sarah Palin's words, the "predator lenders, who tried to talk Americans into thinking that it was smart to buy a $300,000 house if we could only afford a $100,000 house."
Shouldn't Americans, who pride themselves on a spirit of rugged individuality, take a little more personal responsibility than that? What happened to the values of founding fathers like Thomas Jefferson, who once wrote, "Whenever the people are well informed, they can be trusted with their own government."
As Americans, we have failed to keep up our end of the bargain. It's time for our generation to do better. We must take responsibility for our actions and the actions of our country, if not through leadership roles, then through informed voting and communication with our elected representatives. America desperately needs citizens who will take personal responsibility. We can be that generation -- the one that consumes and spends responsibly and demands more responsible deployment of our nation's military.
What America also needs is a leader who can get the country back on track by asking more from its citizens. McCain and Obama aren't doing us any favors by indulging our selfish attitudes. It's time for someone who expects more, and in doing so, helps our country shake our "me-first" mentality.
