Today we celebrate the birth of the United States of America 234 years ago.  

 

Who likes the idea of being mediocre?  Not me.  But I do like the idea that the millions and millions of average people are the deciding factor in whether a nation is great.  Yes, it’s wonderful to have fantastic leaders and great managers and genius artists and fabulous engineers who lead the way.  But most of us don’t live in a world surrounded by fame and greatness every day. We live in our neighborhoods with average folk.  Who they are, who you are, that is what defines America.

Drawing and commentary © Marty Coleman

“What makes a nation great is not primarily its great men, but the stature of its innumerable mediocre ones.” – Jose Ortega y Gasset, 1883-1955, Spanish author and philosopher