America the Problem Solver
Posted by Jim Kupel
Reading Unbroken, the amazing survival story of Louis Zamperini, and watching the Clint Eastwood super bowl ad provide a sharp contrast to the recent Florida primary contest. The former remind us that Americans are problem solvers with a strong spirit of shared sacrifice.
Laura Hillenbrand's historical novel about U. S. POWs who survived being adrift in the Pacific for more than 45 days without food or water and then had to survive prisoner of war camps through the remainder of World War II is an incredible tale of American determination and problem solving. The book introduces dozens of American innovations during the War years that enabled us to succeed.
One of these demonstrations of ingenuity and determination occurred right across the harbor from our office. During World War II the shipyards in South Portland, Maine produced over 200 liberty ships. During roughly the same time period from 1942 to 1946 Boeing, Bell Aircraft, and the Glenn L. Martin Company built over 4000 of the B-29 "Super-fortress" aircraft that helped end the war.
Hillenbrand conveys the American spirit through the eyes of prisoners of war in Tokyo. "... the POWs looked up. There, so high that they appeared to be gleaming slits in the sky, were acres and acres of B-29s, 111 of them, flying toward an aircraft factory on the rim of the city. Caught in what would later be called the jet stream the planes were flying along at speeds approaching 445 miles per hour, almost 100 miles per hour faster than they were built to fly. The Americans had arrived."
Contrast that feeling with the reports from Florida during the primary season. Friends and colleagues report being awash in a barrage of some of the most despicable negative campaign ads they have ever seen. When you total both expenses by super PACS and the campaigns it is reported that pro-Romney forces spent $15.4 million versus $3.4 million for Gingrich. Neither candidate was able to provide a clear outline of their vision of the future amid all the mud-slinging.
When we spend so much time and energy tearing down our social fabric we have fewer resources and problem-solving skills to address the very real and important challenges we face nationally and globally.
Again, Unbroken provides an important clue for "America's second half." The book references literally hundreds of American accomplishments, and challenges faced and overcome in the 1940s, but throughout the entire book the author never once mentions the words Republican or Democrat.