Just a thought. Years ago, I ran five US Marine Corps Marathons, a feat I could not again repeat. Each race was punctuated by the US Marine Corps motto, “Earned, Never Given.” The lesson stuck.
Think for a moment about what America would look like – the ethics of our business, political, educational, and cultural worlds, the mindset of our students – if that were the motto of our nation.
Imagine if, rather than expecting the proverbial “free lunch,” everyone wanted to work, wanted to be measured by how hard they worked, attached their “identity” not to gender, race, geography, status, or labels, but to something that proved their worth to others and themselves, a commitment to hard work.
Imagine further that the kind of work you did – in any field – was about improving yourself and the lot of those around you, a double feedback loop. The more you improve the lot of others, the more theirs improved yours, round and round, everywhere upward, an upward spiral.
That process might be one of creating inventions, a business, jobs, or helping others find what they lacked to prosper, invent, take risks, gain confidence, become self-reliant – all the opposite of excuses, appeasing, lodging grievances, blaming others, enabling lethargy, and allowing ambivalence.
Imagine that – as you practiced the motto “earned, never given” – others watched you, saw how you began to accumulate skills, a buffer against adversity, internal peace of heart, confidence in yourself and all you know, and began to wonder if that was not better than just “free stuff.”
Imagine that this motto got you up in the morning and sent you to bed satisfied each night, you’re your day’s work, what you had done, and what that doing meant for your personal future and others.
Imagine if the whole idea of depending on the state, on government to solve your problems, on anyone to solve them – except as a bridge to get you on track – was disfavored, not the norm but an exception, not the goal but the occasional, necessary hand up to spur self-discovery and success.
Imagine if people asked themselves what the limits of their performance were, whether they could learn new skills that were challenging, hit big new goals, climb Mount Everest, start a pathbreaking business, or just save for a home and then plan and build it.
Imagine if we all dared to dream impossible dreams, then took out a notebook, began planning, began believing, began working for them, then helped others do that, began to revel together in our mutual achievements, in odds overcome, in goals met, in the idea that life is best lived working.
Imagine if … we lived to fulfill the motto, to hold ourselves to it, and by modeling that behavior, encouraged others to do exactly that. Imagine if we aspired to hold ourselves to that standard, to the idea that we only want what we work for, that life’s best things are “earned, never given.”
The idea of a society or culture where people take personal responsibility for their lives, do not want others to do for them what they can do for themselves, is American, not just the US Marine Corps.
But the US Marine Corps may be onto something, because that phrase often is paired with “Semper Fidelis,” or “always faithful.” We need to be faithful to our past to assure our future. Just a thought.
Robert Charles is a former Assistant Secretary of State under Colin Powell, former Reagan and Bush 41 White House staffer, Maine attorney, ten-year naval intelligence officer (USNR), and 25-year businessman. He wrote “Narcotics and Terrorism” (2003), “Eagles and Evergreens” (North Country Press, 2018), and “Cherish America: Stories of Courage, Character, and Kindness” (Tower Publishing, 2024). He is the National Spokesman for AMAC. Today, he is running to be Maine’s next Governor (please visit BobbyforMaine.com to learn more)!
