To Make America Great - Again!

This week a new era started, with a new President, new cabinet members, new governors, mayors and many other world and local leaders who have just come into possession of the position they desired. The era began with the chant, “Make America Great Again!” What does that mean?

Our flag contains the story of our beginnings and expansion

We must first define America. America means the Western hemisphere of the world. It is made up of two continents with a connector and islands. America is named after Amerigo Vespucci. Our hemisphere is made up of many nations. The United States of America is one of the many nations, but there are others.

The Statue of Liberty welcomes immigrants from across the globe

The United Mexican States (Estados Únidos Mexicanos) is another nation which shares a border just to the south of the United States. The people of Mexico speak Spanish as do most of the other nations in America. Spanish is spoken by more people in our hemisphere and in the world than English. Many people in the eastern United States do not realize the rich Hispanic heritage of the southwestern region of our country which pre-dates both our independence and the incorporation of those states into the United States.

To “Make America Great Again” repeats the theme of an earlier time in the United States when the America First Committee was formed so we would not get pulled into the conflict of the century across the ocean. The America First Committee was one of the largest anti-war organizations in American history claiming over 800,000 members including John F. Kennedy, Gerald Ford, Walt Disney, Sinclair Lewis, E. E. Cummings, Charles A. Lindbergh and many others.

Our country is always growing and giving opportunity to all

When most people hear the phrase “Make America Great Again” we think of a time in the past captured through the paintings of Norman Rockwell. Some of the paintings have titles like Freedom from want, Walking to Church, They Remembered, and Freedom from fear. These paintings remind us of an era where people belonged to a strong community. They talked to each other, ate picnics together, competed in sports and enjoyed public events.

But this is not the America of today! The America of today is fragmented and fearful. We protect and insulate ourselves from others so we can exist in our own little world. We purchase security systems and guns because we fear. Some people put bars on their windows. And we talk of building a wall in south of Texas to keep American intruders out.

Norman Rockwell's "Trumpeter"

One demographic of our society, the people most likely to say “Make America Great … Again” really harbors a desire to make themselves great … for a first time. It's like the dream of the lottery. The slogan could just as well say, “Make Me Greater than anyone else.” But this is not what made our country great.

The United States of America becomes great when we realize we are in this together. We are a nation of many people and many races. What began as the land of indigenous people became a land of immigrants: Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch and English. The Scotch-Irish and Germans and Eastern Europeans joined the mix as did Vietnamese and Indians, Chinese and others. We are a land which celebrates our differences, and similarities.

The United States opened doors to everyone

In a great America the masses are productive and valued. Those who amass wealth understand their responsibility to contribute to the welfare of everyone. The rich understand and fully participate in targeted benevolence (not government handouts) in order to advance those for whom the American dream is out of reach.

A great America is not a place where we protect our interests by finding tax loopholes. It is not a land which gives extravagant salaries to CEO’s. America is not the place where we take advantage of “cheap labor” south of the border or elsewhere. It is a land which gives appropriate rewards to those who work and watches out for the welfare of all (including those who can’t work).

A great America is a place where we turn off our televisions, computers and cell phones in order to come together for community events like picnics, baseball games, concerts, cultural events and worship. A great America would be a place of high morals where the phrase “do unto others and you would have others do unto you” has meaning and reality. It is a place where we care about one another because we know one another and we like each other. It is a place where Republicans talk to Democrats and include Libertarians and others in the mix because we become great by sharing ideas across party lines and working together.