HotShot Blog

This post is about something sorely lacking in our society, leadership. People like me often criticize Bush as being a terrible leader, and at no point was that clearer than during the week following the hurricane. While thousands died, starved, or were raped and murdered, the president dressed up like a country singer and posed with a guitar in a cheap photo-op. Even when he finally went to New Orleans on Friday, he avoided the hardest hit areas, viewing from a distance in a helicopter.

In the previous two decades we may have accepted poor leadership. There were no major wars, terrorists were only beginning to make themselves known, and most people were happily employed and enjoying a boom.

But in these trying times, we need solid leadership. Not just from our president, but from ordinary Americans. We can no longer afford to be a nation of couch potatoes, indifferent and resigned to whatever fate bestows upon them. Our schools are crumbling, poverty is rising, the nation remains unprepared for any major terrorist attack, and globalization has destroyed the fundamental building blocks of our society, including our families.

It will take much more than one president to restore this great nation to grandeur. It will take a concerted effort by each of us. Don't think you can make a difference? You are wrong.

I recently got scammed by an apartment listing service called Coastal Apartments, Inc. They reeled me in with a semi-fradulent posting on craigslist.com then promised me I would find a great 1 bedroom apartment within my budget. After I paid the $244 fee, I was completely ignored. My phone calls were not returned. The listings I received were for rented apartments and unavailable short-term corporate leases. After a week of work, I looked at only one apartment. I decided to call it quits.

Except that they refused to give me my money back. I called, wrote, and stated my case that they had misled me. All I received was an insulting offer of $30. I could have walked away with this measly amount. Instead, I took action. I made flyers stating my story and stood outside the company's doors waiting to pass them out to customers. I was met with initial hostility, threats of police action and lawsuits. But in the end, I was able to get over 75% of my money back thanks to my actions. Much better than the arrogant $30 they had offered me.

Real leadership requires that we stand up for our values in all aspects of life. It requires that we not be satisfied with what we're given in every situation, but that we work harder to make things better. A Democratic president, congress, supreme court, state legislatures, governor, etc will certainly help set this country on the right path. But to make substantial progress, we will need much more. We need a nation of leaders.