An American Idiom. It is a challenge, demanding that a complainer do something to remedy the condition complained about, or to cease complaining.

The key assumptions underlying this turn of phrase are quintessentially American. Among them are that one is the master of his own fate, and that words have little value compared to actions.

Older, more thoughtful cultures may not be so quick to assume that execution should proceed without deliberation, but they have often found themselves deliberating three or four steps in arrears of the actions of Americans.

A calculation of the effects of these values on history is left to the reader.