Make America Great Again!

Many of us will recognize the title of this essay as the slogan of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign last fall.  Next week, Mr. Trump will be inaugurated as the nation’s 45^th President, and I thought about this slogan again.  I have always found this slogan intriguing, not for any originality, but for the reaction it created, and how it highlighted cultural divides in America.  This slogan can be a great teacher, if we let it.

The slogan implies that America was a once great nation that is no longer great.  Mr. Trump’s opponents scoffed at the slogan, and gave it no further thought.  For me, as I watched Mr. Trump rack up win after win in the Republican primaries, ultimately win the party’s nomination, then win the Presidency, I kept asking myself a question that Mr. Trump’s critics never bothered to ask: Why is this slogan resonating with people? 

To find an answer to this question, I asked myself, who or what made America great in the first place? The “what” is easy.  Ours is a country founded on freedom. But within that, who made this country great?  Again, easy answer.  People.  People such as farmers, teachers, entrepreneurs, soldiers, craftsmen, plumbers, electricians, fireman, policeman, pastors, shop keepers, community bankers, machinists, welders, mechanics, and others like them.  They may not have been the smartest people around, they may not have always made the wisest choices, but they were generally hard working, had hearts full of gratitude, they knew what they were doing, they knew how to take care of themselves and their families, and they possessed a genuine desire to help others. We were blessed with leaders who protected us from our enemies, but otherwise let us live out our dreams.

If those people made America great, then who made it “not great”?  People.  People such as politicians, powerful bankers, lobbyists, bureaucrats, corporate executives, elite university professors.  In short, it was our leaders.  But wait, are these not noble professions and callings?  They are. But, what these people all have in common is that we look to these types of people as the smartest, and most highly educated people. Yet, these are the same people who brought us to this state. These are the very people who necessitated the slogan “Make America Great Again” and made President Donald Trump possible.  But how?  It was the experts who have told us that we need to stop teaching right from wrong. It was the experts who gave us the unprecedented greed that we see from corporate executives, politicians, and the powerful bankers. It is the experts who told us that we need to lose our moral compass.  It was the experts who looked down with contempt at the lives of the average American.  It was the experts who told us they knew what we needed better than we the people knew ourselves.  Yet, those same experts keep telling us they need more and more of our money to solve the problems they created.   In short, the level of arrogance among today’s “experts” is downright sickening.

So, how does all this lead us back to “Make America Great Again”?  To our leaders, lose the arrogance and the attitude quickly.  You are not that smart and we are not that dumb.  We see through your BS.  Trust me, your spin is nothing but complete BS.  It does not matter if you are Democrat, Republican, liberal or conservative.  Quit cramming your crap and cockamamie theories down our throats. Start listening to us.  Start talking to us, not at us.  Do not cherry pick your audience, but listen to a broad spectrum of voices from all walks of life.  Quit trying to blame everyone else for the problems you created.  Own up to your mistakes, learn from them and move forward.  Quit lecturing us about our mistakes while ignoring your own.  No one likes a self- righteous prick, and that is what many of you have become.  Quit believing that you are the only one with all the answers.  No one has all the answers except God, and you are not God.  Quit telling us how stupid we are.  Quit trying to micromanage our lives.

If you want to lead, then become a servant and quit trying to be a master.  A true leader is a servant to his people, not a lord and master.  Show us respect instead of contempt.  Show respect to our forefathers and the wisdom they handed down generation to generation.  Respect the moral compass again.  Respect limits to power.  Those limits are there for a reason.  Let us live in freedom.

To the rest of us.  Show kindness and compassion, especially to the widow, the orphan, the elderly.  Do not scream, yell and generally show disrespect to those who disagree with you.  Two people can disagree without being disagreeable.  Understand that everyone has their own unique point of view and they come by it honestly.  If you do not know why you believe something, then examine why with an open mind and do not be afraid to change your mind.  Always think for yourself.  Educate yourself.  Do not take anything your leaders say at face value.  Do not believe everything you read in the media.  Especially if the opinion being expressed is one you agree with.  If you do, then you do not believe in anything and you will fall for everything.

If we all do these things, we can go a long way to Make America Great Again.