Exceptional People - We The People

by

This U.S. Citizen

I have become a student of human nature, the

understanding of people’s personalities, and their

character. I have been awakened in the past five years by

maturity, age, reading, and observing people. Reading

has made me aware, aware of history and of the people

who shaped it. In books I have read there is the

continuous question of what shapes people. Is it nature

or nurture? Are people shaped by what they are born

with i.e. the natural talent they possess? I think some

people are born with natural talent for music, art, as well

as math or science for example and this usually leads

them into their lifetime profession or at least it should in

my opinion. This is not to say anyone without a natural

talent for these things cannot learn them, not at all but

they may never be great at them. -I heard or read that

from someone but I cannot remember who so I am

privileged to repeat their words, whomever they belong

to.-

On the other hand many believe people are products

of their environment and its influences on them as they

grow and mature. I really believe all people are talented

at something and a lifetime of experiences is what leads

to who we are as a person. It is of my opinion that

natural talent plays a larger role but a person’s

environment forces the direction of what people do with

their talent. In some cases the stars seem to align and it

is easy to succeed. Having natural talents as well as

being born into a family with connections or resources to

aid those greases the wheels so to speak. This takes

place when the talents are obvious and one understands

their abilities and can benefit from the environment they

were born into. However a person born into a situation

with vast resources but with little or no recognizable

talent may be doomed to the life of the spoiled rich kid.

Unfortunately for many of us, I think these are the

people who gravitate toward politics and to all of our

detriment in their effort to prove themselves to someone,

anyone, usually themselves. To prove themselves worthy

they must meddle in other people’s lives because they

truly believe they know better.

One of my talents I believe I possess - and I am sure

I am offending someone when I say I think I have a

talent – is that I believe I can easily figure out people’s

motives and what people are thinking by the actions they

take, things they say and how they say them. It is not

rocket science and maybe it is not a talent at all but I also

fairly quickly determine personality types of new people

I meet. Just a quick note, when you match other people’s

personality type it makes getting along with them much

easier. I would call myself a student of people. This

probably sounds boring to most but this is something I

think about quite often.

I want and like to know what drives people to do

what they do and why this is interesting in the context of

this passage is that I wonder what were people thinking

when they came to America so long ago? What type of

people were they? What were they like? What

personalities may have dominated the people who came

to America? What talents did they possess? Think about

the mindset of those who came to America hundreds of

years ago and even today. Words which come to mind to

describe these people include: motivated, head-strong,

determined, not easily distracted, goal-oriented, focused,

serious, risk taker, and optimistic. These are positive

character traits in my opinion.

What drove these people to make such risky

decisions such as crossing oceans to reach an unknown

and potentially dangerous new world? Is this kind of

drive something everyone possesses? I am willing to

step out on a limb here and say no, I do not believe so. If

there is one thing I have learned in my short thirty-nine

years and really only over the past five is that people act

and think very differently. There are many different

types of people with very different personality traits such

as: outgoing, loud, quiet, introverted, friendly, coarse,

smart, not so smart, happy, sad, helpful to others,

uncaring of others, distant, depressed, anxious, strong-willed, stubborn, talkative, of very few words, analytical,

driven, hard-nosed, flighty, focused, unfocused, highly

dependent on others, independent minded, self-reliant,

good listeners, bad listeners, dependable, undependable,

trustworthy, shallow, selfish, unselfish, risk takers, risk

averse, talkers, do-ers, direct, decisive, indecisive,

humble, snobby, rude, open, expressive, dedicated, etc.

I believe people and minds which think alike will

automatically come together mainly because they are

interested in the same things. It’s the old birds of a

feather flock together adage. Although there is the other

adage which says opposites attract but I think this to be

the exception and not the rule. For example I am very

direct, a person of few words in conversation who does

not beat around the bush. I absolutely abhor speaking

with someone who does not ever get to a point and many

times do not even have one. I find those people annoying

and I bet they find me just as annoying at my lack of

interest in participating in their chit chat sessions.

Now my point; does it not make sense the majority

of those who came to and founded America and the

United States were people cut from the same cloth and

most likely had traits such as: risk taking, outgoing,

strong-willed, analytical, driven, focused, independent,

decisive, dedicated, serious, and most importantly self-reliant?

These people were in fact, do-ers. They were

essentially people who were not afraid to make

decisions, were able to deal with adversity, and got

things done. Those who were not do-ers and did not

possess these traits were left behind in the old world.

The people who came to America had talent but had

little or no resources in order to use their talents. They

came here because they were driven by a want for a

better life for themselves and their families. They were

willing to take chances and risk everything including

what little money or possessions they owned, and their

very lives as well. They came to escape tyranny, to have

religious freedom, and to seek a life where they were

their own decision maker. People who came were

decision makers who took action and got things done.

They did not wait for someone else to decide for them.

They were not part of the wait and see crowd or what

some call fence sitters. Those people waited for others to

act and to see the outcomes before they did anything.

These fence sitters were left behind by those willing to

go into the unknown. People came to America because

they were curious and had the mentality of those who

were the original explorers. They were people who

believed there must be a better life than the one they

were currently living and were willing to seek it out.

I would venture to call those first people who came

to America; exceptional, ergo American Exceptionalism.

These people are high achievers and are those who go

the extra mile, not satisfied with something which may

be good enough, but that strive for the highest

possibility, sometimes failing along the way. The

unfortunate fallout that stems from the success of

America is eventually those without exceptional talents

begin to come as well to benefit from what is here. They

want the benefit but they still do not possess the drive to

earn it, thus dependency begins to grow and

exceptionalism overall, begins to decay.

Those who came, the majority were not privileged

people but an over-abundance of exceptional and driven

people was the majority. If they were privileged, they

likely stayed where they were because they were

comfortable. Opportunities in America pulled a great

amount of the cream of the crop (from an internal

personal drive standpoint) away from Europe and its

socialist and tyrannical ways.

Unknown opportunities pulled these people away

from the rest of the world and these were the people who

passed on the values and traits which contributed to

making America exceptional. Here is a critical opinion

of mine: I do believe exceptional and talented people and

those without such talents are not always born of the

same or vice versa and no one can control whether their

offspring will be talented or have the internal drive to

improve themselves to succeed. Especially having

grown up in a free American society and somewhat

comfortable compared to where their ancestors came

from. These are now American born fence sitters who

may now be creating a new majority of stagnant thinking

and basically comfortable people.

They are comfortable in that they are not driven to

make a better life for themselves. Especially not driven

or motivated enough to cross oceans to an unknown and

unpredictable life. It seems so many people are satisfied

with their life today as long as they have the latest cell

phone and the television comes on when they hit the

remote. Is this not equivalent to the fence sitters of three

or four hundred years ago who were satisfied as long as

they had a loaf of bread and no one shooting at them?

America was a melting pot, but a melting pot of

people who were the most driven and unsatisfied people

of Europe and the rest of the world. Never has there been

such a large aggregate of like minded, success driven

people as those who first came to America. Finally free

from oversight and decisions of others on their very

lives. They wanted to be free to act, free to move on and

leave those behind who could not make decisions or

slowed them down. These people had a take no

prisoners attitude and I think there is nothing wrong

with that. They did not want to work for another or slave

for another person’s gain but were people who believed

one must pull their own weight and had no use for those

who would not.

These were people with a need to get more out of

life, who had talent and drive and little resources but

were willing to jump at the opportunity to immediately

leave everything behind and leap into the unknown. This

is the American Spirit. The ability to make a decision

and go for it while willing to risk failure at the same

time. They were tired of being told what to do by others

they did not know or care about. I firmly believe

America was built by those with the talent and drive to

succeed but had little resources or connections to aid

them. Freedom is what allowed them to succeed,

Freedom. The incremental erosion of this freedom is

what is now hurting this country.

These people who came to America across an ocean

were now isolated from people who did not think like

them, the fence sitters. Do you think this would lead to a

new society of people basically mirroring where they

came from? Doubtful. What would be the likely

outcome of an isolated group like this? What type of

country or nation could it lead to? What would it look

like in the future and most important, could it last? It

lead to the founding of the United States of America.

Whether it could last is yet to be known.

What would happen if this original, temporarily

isolated society of high achievement began to be diluted

from within, decreasing the number of do-ers compared

to fence sitters over time? If high-achievement and

exceptionalism is no longer the mindset of the majority

of Americans, what kind of leaders will we put in charge

of our governance? What kind of society will result from

this?

There are and will always be those people who will

always find things wrong with anything. These people

are the fence sitters of today. Those not willing to take a

chance but will damn sure let you know how they think

you did wrong after the fact. These are the people to stay

away from. They are afraid to act and will criticize you

because you make them look bad. They look bad

because if you are found to have made the right decision,

it shows their lack of courage and puts it on display for

all to see. They simply cannot handle it. They will find

faults no matter how right you were. If you are wrong

they will let you know they told you so, determined to

make you understand how they were right all along not

to act. The mentality of these types of people is

detrimental to America and is the same mentality as

those comfortable enough not to take the journey to the

new world. Our ancestors were smart enough to leave

them behind hundreds of years ago. We must leave them

behind in our everyday lives today for they will do

nothing but hinder us and our nation.

The unwillingness to take the available information

and move forward versus doing nothing to avoid

potential consequences and sometimes even scorn from

others is stagnating to us. Why have so many of us lost

the American spirit of adventure to see what happens

when we take that difficult next step, to put ourselves

out there, and to take a chance? Where would we be now

if the Founding Fathers had decided since solving the

slavery problem at that time was impossible and they

should not bother with creating a new nation based on

freedom? Yes, a new nation based on life, liberty, and

the pursuit of happiness, but where certain people were

excluded is contradicting to me of course but they knew

there had to be a starting point. They were willing to try

a grand experiment. I am glad I am here now enjoying

what America has become since the experiment began

but am now very worried about the next step in our

nation’s future.

The founding of America was the first time in

history where a majority of people who were high

achievers, self-motivated, had high moral standards, and

where self-reliant people had come together in very large

numbers. This is part of the American culture of the

United States of America. These unusually large

numbers are now I fear, reverting back to the average of

the rest of the world. This average has always been and

is the norm in most other countries. We are at a

crossroads looking at a situation which has never really

occurred to this extent. America has been a high

achieving culture and I think this culture is fading due to

the natural progression of time. What we do at this

crossroads is critical and I do not think there is a path

back unless some drastic changes are made. Can you

imagine a country as great as ours going from what we

are today; in the upper part of productivity and success

scale and standard of living to merely a country that is

average? I don’t know about you but I like being freer

than every other country in the world. I like living in a

country with a very high standard of living with

numerous opportunities to succeed. I like my rights

being protected by a strong Constitution and Bill of

Rights. My fear however is if we do not face the fact this

relatively simple argument might be part of the reason

for decline in overall drive and determination, we could

be doomed.

No society has gone from such a high – productivity

wise - to where we may be heading fairly shortly. What

does it look like? I hate to imagine but I know it will not

be what we know as freedom today. We may still be a

free society, but I fear it will be a society where we are

free to do as we are told. Free to live where you are told,

free to earn how much is decided you need. Wait, is pay

not being now dictated, I mean regulated by government

officials now in certain types of businesses? I think we

do have a pay czar do we not? Isn’t this what the

administration calls the person who makes sure pay is

not too excessive for some CEOs? I have a question;

excessive compared to whom? Why do they get to

decide what is excessive? What is their definition of

excessive based on? If this can be done to the big boys

on Wall Street, don’t you believe they would not think

twice about doing it to us if and when they deem it

necessary for the sake of our nation’s interest?

So my conclusion here would be that some people

are inherently more driven than others. Some are just

willing to do more to get what they want and their

personality traits and natural abilities influence their

actions. I guess it is unfortunate everyone is not born

with this kind of drive but is it anymore surprising

everyone is not born with the ability to throw a one

hundred mph fastball or compose music like Mozart?

Why is it if you are a highly talented athlete or movie

star and get paid millions of dollars, the pay czar does

not show up on your doorstep but if you run a business

you are held to different standards, government forced

obligations, and where fairness and equality of pay

suddenly apply? It is not my fault I cannot act or do not

have a cannon for an arm so where is my cut of those

people’s earnings to make it fair to me? If it is a stupid

argument looking at it one way, why is it not just as

stupid from the opposite view? When government

inhibits business through over regulation it kills jobs;

jobs which would have existed as opportunities for

citizens to earn a living, take care and raise a family.

This is a travesty of our freedom created solely by

governments so called infinite wisdom.

It turns out the people born with the natural talent

and abilities to succeed and manage a business are the

ones who make most of the money. I think this to be the

same as the most talented athlete or the highest grossing

movie star getting paid the most to do what they do best.

What is the difference here? People are born with very

different personalities, strengths, talents, and abilities.

Some people are just better at some things than others. I

believe America started with a population of do-ers and

now, this is fading. If you are a do-er, you know it and

you are most likely confident with your abilities to make

things happen. You will not need me or anyone else to

tell you so. If you are not a do-er but a fence sitter, it

doesn’t really matter because unfortunately, I doubt you

are reading this passage.

Some might think my conclusions are a negative

against America or some Americans. I see it as a

problem which needs to be addressed because if it is not,

the potential damage which could ensue on our country

would be a tragedy. Many may be dismissive of my

conclusions because I do not really have scientific or

measurable data on which to base my conclusions but

how would measuring this ever be possible? One simply

must be able to see the big picture of what is happening

today by applying simple reasoning to draw conclusions

and although you may not believe or agree with me, I do

not think you could say I have not made a logical

argument.

Is what I assert as the reason behind the slow decay

of our society really so far fetched? I think some may

outright deny it because what it does is make each

person take a serious look at themselves and decide if

they are a do-er, and therefore more inclined to be

successful in life or not, or go on with their life being a

fence sitter.

Successful people make things happen. Unsuccessful

people wait for things to happen. Risk takers and

pioneers get the reward but also face initial failures

which come with dealing with the unknown. These

failures are necessary to find solutions to problems and

should not be looked down upon and second guessed by

those not willing to take the risk. It does not take a

genius to Monday morning quarterback. The difference

in real successful people and those who never quite

make it is the latter stop when they fail or hit opposition.

The truly successful march through adversity and keep

going using the experience gained from failure to better

themselves and their strategy. When you stop at adversity 
you have convinced yourself you have reached your limit 
and it is not useful to try again. 

Exceptionally successful people never accept such a premise!


This U.S. Citizen