America Doesn’t Suck
My favorite writer is Aaron Sorkin. Not a typical name when people are listing their favorite writers, but he is mine. In case you’re not familiar with him, he is the writer of shows like “The Westwing” and “Sports Night” and movies like “The American President”, “A Few Good Men” and “Moneyball”. He even wrote a play I thoroughly enjoyed called “The Farnsworth Invention”. I find his writing inspirational and uplifting. It dreams of a world where people fight for right over wrong and are not afraid to take risks when it’s the right thing to do. Whether real or imagined, the world of Aaron Sorkin is a world where doing the right thing can change the world. It’s possible I love his writing so much because in most cases I relate to his ideas. He uses logic and reason to tackle seemingly impossible problems and his approach in most cases mirrors my views. It works out well for me and helps motivate me to continue getting up every morning despite the constant struggle we all face to find our own way to make this world better.
His writing also reflects another principle which likely is the most important foundation of my existence; America is an amazing place and an even more amazing idea. Mr. Sorkin also wrote another show called “The Newsroom”. The opening scene in this series is one of the most striking opening scenes I’ve ever seen; or read for that matter. (If you haven’t seen it, here’s a link to the scene on YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zqOYBabXmA Seriously, take the time to watch you won’t be disappointed.)
Now, I realize this scene was a set up for the entire series to come and the idea this network was going to change the way they operated and fix the country. But, the message set forth in it was is a message that has resonated for far too long. It’s a message which has been rampant in every part of our society, from politics, to the press, to Hollywood and that message is that America sucks. In fact, it has almost gotten to the point where if don’t agree, you are ridiculed by people who want to tell you everything that’s wrong with America or point out how much better other countries are doing things. It’s become a part of our culture to forget about how amazing this country really is. I didn’t realize how bad it was until I heard my son say when he got older he didn’t want to live in the United States because other countries were better, and America wasn’t that great. Talk about jarring. I heard those words come out of his mouth and I immediately looked at Marnae. She looked at me and knew what I was thinking…” Ouch!”
We had just gotten back from a trip to Paris. A trip we had been planning to take for 11 years. It was one of those trips where you get home and you say to yourself…” okay, that was amazing, where are we going next.” We had a million ideas for the next great trip we could take the whole family on, but nothing really jumped out at us. Then I had an idea.
Marnae had been planning to write a blog for a long time. She wanted to make sure she got out of the house with the boys and that our family had adventures. She wanted to call it 52 Adventures and make sure there was an adventure every week. Mostly we wanted the boys to understand there is a whole world out there and a lot to do so get out there and do it. So, the night I heard one of my kids tell me America wasn’t so great I proposed an amendment to her plan. I asked her what if we make 52 Adventures mean two things. What if we continue to have at least one adventure each week with them, but what if we also try to take them to all 50 states, Washington D.C. and one foreign country before they graduate high school. I told her I just wanted to make sure our kids really got to see America and come to understand what it is that makes America the greatest country in the world.
So, thanks to Marnae’s willingness to let her thing become our thing, 52 Adventures became Our 52 Adventures and here we are. We started our quest to visit all 50 states in December of 2016 and we’ll be sure to tell you about every one of them. We plan to have an adventure in each state and would even like to do a different service project in as many of them as possible. Mostly I want our kids to learn about different places and to learn about how diverse and free our country really is. I want them to talk to everyone they can and learn everything they desire, and I want them to really experience what this country is all about.
We’re going to do everything in our power to show our kids America doesn’t suck and we hope to have you on board for our journey. We want this to be as interactive as possible so please tell us about trips you’ve taken or things you’ve seen. We’ll do our best to let people know where we’re going and would love to have suggestions of things to see along the way. Words cannot describe how excited we are about this and we’re just getting started. Thanks for coming along for the ride. America is amazing, let’s remember that together.
By the way for those of you who watched the scene and wanted to know my answer to what makes America the greatest country in the world? Two words…The People. The people in this country can accomplish anything. We can create a system where everyone has opportunity to be the best possible versions of themselves. We can build the tallest buildings, save the tallest trees, and feed the world with both food and knowledge. The people in this country are amazing, and along the way of our adventures we’re going to try to meet as many of them as possible.
