166th Edition
Playing an endless away game
During my high school basketball career, I played my best games when we were the visiting team. Nothing got me more fired up to play than walking into a hostile environment where every fan in the gym was rooting against me. I’ve maintained that away-game mentality as a motivating force in athletics all my life. Competing with an edge, or even downright anger, can provide an extra boost of energy leading to extraordinary athletic performances. But the energy derived from this agitated emotional state is finite. It isn’t sustainable, sometimes not even for an entire game.
Conversely, I found the emotions derived from home games to be very different. A supportive crowd utilizing emotions of loyalty, family, school spirit, and tradition usually produces a very different vibe for the home team. Moreover, these positive, nurturing emotions tend to be more sustainable. There should be no surprise that historically, in high school basketball, home teams win about 70% of the time.
Today, America seems to be playing an endless away game. Our critics and detractors are everywhere. Internally, there are influential and powerful factions who seem to despise much of what has made America uniquely successful in its relatively short history. Specifically, free-market capitalism, a balance between individual responsibility and individual rights, limited government, a strong work ethic, and faith in God at the center. Currently, people are much more apt to demand individual rights and less willing to embrace individual responsibilities. Socialism is on the rise, while faith seems to be declining. As history has demonstrated, totalitarianism ultimately replaces God with the State. Are we mindful of this and do we realize these trends might be correlated?
We are living with an edge, manifested by widespread distrust, a constant state of anger, and increasing violence. It’s not sustainable. But what happens within our country before something extraordinary changes the vibe is anybody’s guess. Potential scenarios can be downright scary.
Meanwhile, globally, our enemies are formidable and committed to our destruction. They are playing the long game, so we are told. What is our long game? Hopefully, someday soon we will transition from an away-game mentality to a home-game mentality. What would spark this transformation? What developments will take place in our country before polarization and radicalization run their course? It is easy to imagine widespread civil unrest, which our enemies like China continue to support.
I am encouraged by people of faith who believe in free-market capitalism, a strong work ethic, civic responsibility, and limited government who have the courage to speak out against the rising tide of socialism and the influence of Marxist ideology. These opposing ideologies are on an inevitable collision course, and how this battle develops will largely determine the future of our country.
What is our long game? It starts with producing better leaders who will be God-centered and embody these core values: servant leadership, civic responsibility, a strong work ethic, and personal integrity. In my view, these would be leaders worth following… now more than ever.
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Michael Kayes
*These views are my personal opinions and are not the viewpoints of any company or organization.