The Move To Mediocrity
what we lose when we settle for good enough
2008-09-11
By Eric Easter

Barack Obama’s soaring Democratic National Convention oratory aside, by far the most sustained and heartfelt applause that week came during the video tribute to Senator Ted Kennedy in a brief flash of Kennedy and his older brothers standing together.

It wasn't just nostalgia that elicited the wonder and emotion. Indeed, many of the people tearing up at that moment were far too young to have anything close to a memory of John, Bobby, or for that matter, even Teddy.

No, we idolize the Kennedy boys because they are better than us. Wealthier, more powerful, smarter, better connected, more worldly, more committed, more sacrificial, more energetic. We would brag if we knew them personally, tell stories about meeting them,  write books and diary entries about the smallest conversations. We don’t just admire, we aspire to be them.

It’s the same reason we deify Gandhi, Mandela, Lumumba, FDR, MLK, Lincoln, Washington, Jefferson, Franklin, Bill Gates, Mother Theresa, Joan of Arc, Thomas Edison, George Washington Carver, Cary Grant, Humphrey Bogart, Frank Sinatra, Jesus, Mary, Joseph and the saints.  Their leadership and lasting impact is defined by their superiority beyond their peers and the rest of us.

So at what point did we begin to accept the ordinary, the mediocre and the just fine in our leaders? When did an Ivy League graduate degree become a point of derision? By which standard do we assume that the United States carries so much power in today’s changing world, that we can afford to have anything less than an extraordinary person at the helm – or in the wings?

Blame it on television, which in the last 40 years has created a false sense of intimacy and that has led us to imagine that people we will never meet or converse with are members of our family.

Blame the Plain English Bible that took the awe and beauty out of the language of God and brought it down to our contemporary imperfection.

And blame the crunchy granola style of education that  eschews competition and gives gold medals to children for what in an earlier time would have been expected.

Apparently Americans have developed a preference for ignorance. We have lost the energy and the work ethic for demanding thought. Worse, we are hypocritical in our ignorance. We denounce the culture of low achievement that pressures minority kids to do less than their best in school, yet as adults faced with one of the most important decisions in our history,  we demean excellence as elitist and eloquence as empty at the nations highest level of achievement.

But history shows that the people we call or elect as leaders have almost always failed us (and themselves) when they have chosen to be ordinary. In fact, there seems to be a direct relationship between “just like one of us” appeal and ultimate failure.

Marion Barry was adored by folk at street level in Washington DC for being the only big city mayor you could grab a cognac with at an after hours club at 4am. No need to repeat what happened there.
Ditto for hip hop mayor Kwame Kilpatrick. And Huey Long. And George Wallace. And Bull Connor. And Huey Newton. Bill Clinton as former Rhodes scholar embodied the promise of a new future. As Bubba Everyman he brought shame to the White House. Jimmy Carter as folksy peanut farmer was weak and ineffective. Do I have to mention George W. Bush?

Still, despite example after example, we continue to sniff at those who excel above our capacity and embrace those who operate at our level.

Does it matter that Sarah Palin has a spotty college record and a degree from a matchbook cover? Absolutely it does. Intellectual curiosity, focus and a sense of purpose are core competencies for the job she wants to have. Those traits show up early in a serious life. There are no late bloomers where intelligence is concerned.

We don’t need a President to bowl well, endure torture, shoot baskets or moose, do the soul shake or throw back a shooter like a frat boy. Anything outside of innovative thinking, a mature worldview and compassionate decision-making is irrelevant.

Barack Obama, as his harshest critics suggest, may very well think he is better and smarter than the rest of us. That’s fine with me. I want him to be. If he aspires to the role that directly impacts my children’s futures, he damned well better be.

Eric Easter is Chief of Digital Strategy for Johnson Publishing, Co., Inc. He writes about politics, culture and technology for EbonyJet.com