I was born in the US. I had lived in Australia and Canada for just over 8 total years. I am now back in the US.

The US is remarkable. It's easy, it's cheap, it's where the world operates.

And yet, the US is no longer a world leader. In fact, we are trail.

There was a time when we showed the world what was possible. The US was the pinnacle of innovation, government, freedom, security, hopes and dreams.

The US we teach our children is how many or most American's think of it. Amber waves of grain and all that.

There was a time when America *was* the adult in the room and combined with our allies, took the reigns and said "no" to fascism, tyranny, and oppression. We made it our job to stop atrocities.

We did this because someone had to. We did it because bullies need to be stood up to

And I don't have all the answers and I don't know exactly what happened or when it happened, but we lost our way. We got complacent, or lazy, or something.

And we stopped leading the world. We stopped caring about people.

We stopped pushing the envelope on what could be and argued over what was and "technical correctness" of terms that don't matter.

We look like the Roman empire before it fell, we just don't know it.

Time passes, we learn, concepts evolve, and with it our understanding and desire to get better.

But we stopped getting better for all.

Healthcare, education, social safety nets, taking care of the weak, the injured, the poor. We stopped.

America, once a land of plenty and an ever-expanding notion of opportunity, adopted a fixed mindset.

We as a country didn't want to grow the pie, we wanted to take more of the pie and make sure we had more than others.

No entity can sustainably grow by taking from others.

The only sustainable growth comes from growing the pie, not increasing your percentage of the pie.

And yet, here we are.

And we are in trouble. But not without possible redemption.

I don't know what to do about it, tbh. But I know we are not on a good path. I know we need to change everything about us if we want our kids and grandkids to have the same notion of America as we were taught growing up.

And this isn't about 'getting back to the good ole days', no, this is making sure that we are moving forward.

All stasis is eventual death in this regard. If people are not pushing new ideas and new ways of operating, all systems eventually atrophy and crumble.

So, what do we do about it?

Well, like I said, I don't have the answers but I know it starts with some questions. One thing I will always do is vote people in with ideas, not rhetoric. At least those people are trying.

And I'll always keep moving forward myself.

I'm an eternal optimist. And a pragmatist. There is no point in not calling out what is and hoping for what could be

So with that, I want to say this: vote for people with ideas, not rhetoric. Vote for people who want to build and advance, not stay static, or worse, 'got back'

And lastly, be examples to those around you. The world has terrible people and terrible circumstances. Many people rise to power for power reasons, not for human reasons.

Help those around you be better and in aggregate we will be better.

We'll never be able to stop all terrible people from reaching for power, but if we recognize them sooner, less get through the gates.

We have failed at this for a while now. We can and need to be better at this one thing going forward.