Many modern leaders seem squeezed dry of imagination, stuck in a do-loop, parroting things they hear from others, tires spinning in a muddy rut. Where is the imagination that preceded us, that we are all born with, that makes our lives full, and moves things ahead? We need to find it and apply it.
The ways in which we can make a difference, get ourselves out of the box, and start getting others out with us, are more numerous than the lumens on a sunny day, countless. Yet we are often caught in irons, the same-old-same-old, tired policies, and poor personal use time. We need to shake that off.
Why not give money back to citizens, and see how they spend it? Why not cut dependence on the state, and see how innovative people become? Why not cause those who are able to work, to actually work, in order to earn their keep? Why not, to borrow from JFK: “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country?”
Why not imagine the possible, a healthier, stronger, drug-free society, rather than wallowing in the present? Why not challenge ourselves, our kids, all the entire adult population to start thinking more about our kids’ future than our own? Why not lift young eyes to light from shadow, help them dream, and then work on the dream? Nancy Reagan wrote, “Time is short, life is precious.”
Where is the imagination that reminds us we are empowered to empower, inspired to inspire, taught to teach, capable of replacing inertia with momentum, changing things right now – and feeling better when we do. Lincoln said, “To ease another’s heartache is to forget one’s own.”
Why not wake up and say, each morning, “Lord put me to work, for as I breathe I have power.” Why not recall Dickens’ reflection on everyone’s value, “No one is useless who lightens the burdens of another,” or Matthew’s essential guidance: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”
Where has our imagination gone, that we murmur and grouse, find all things wrong, and do little about it? Where is the initiative shown by those before us, that got us here? Where is our belief in the extraordinary power we possess for doing good? Why is it sleeping, distracted, disheartened, when remembering its presence gives us the power to change lives, brings it – and us – back to life?
Why not teach individual responsibility again, self-reliance again – that the act of understanding what one can do, expecting it of ourselves, and then doing it inspires a chain reaction, and offers the satisfaction of looking back and seeing it done, over and over and over.
Why not stop pretending truth is changeable, somehow up for grabs, when it is not – it is a rock, granite, comforting in its solidity, just as faith is fortifying, a deep well of strength in proportion to our willingness to believe? Why do we tolerate false remakes of truth, knowing they are empty?
The answer, or so it seems, is that we face a crisis of imagination, one that prior generations somehow addressed with courage, put behind them, and powered beyond. Around us, we see those quick to cower and condemn, as if condemnation is the modern elixir for what ails us. It is not.
What cures a crisis of imagination is resolve, more courage not less, more willingness to take risks not less, more acting on what we imagine possible, not indulging naysayers or defaulting to dejection. Modern society – like all societies – is defined by imagination and courage.
Winston Churchill’s mother was American, which may explain why he possessed so much of both, imagination and courage. Two of his best observations on the topic come to mind in closing.
Mid-WWI, Churchill observed, “Courage is rightly esteemed the first of human qualities – it is the quality which guarantees all others.” Post-war, reflecting on it all, he added: “All great things are simple, and many can be expressed in a single word: Freedom, Justice, Honor, Duty, Mercy, Hope.” True as his observations are, I might add imagination. With it, we thrive; without it, we wither.
Robert Charles is a former Assistant Secretary of State under Colin Powell, former Reagan and Bush 41 White House staffer, attorney, and naval intelligence officer (USNR). He wrote “Narcotics and Terrorism” (2003), “Eagles and Evergreens” (2018), and is National Spokesman for AMAC. Robert Charles has also just released an uplifting new book, “Cherish America: Stories of Courage, Character, and Kindness” (Tower Publishing, 2024).
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