Make America GOOD Again
We’ve had our issues as a nation. There’s no hiding from that. But for the most part, our country has historically been regarded as a fundamentally good country. That’s been a core reason that for many, many generations, people from around the world have set their sites on America the beautiful - land of the free, home of the brave. Despite the many areas in dire need of improvement, we’ve been the destination of choice for those seeking a better life, the good life, as it were. Not necessarily the “great” life. Just a good, decent life, at very least. A life free from religious persecution, the absence of choice, government censorship, torture and widespread famine. America has been the promise of opportunity, safety, and freedom from authoritarian rule. At least that was the case until a small minority of the American population lined up behind a malignant narcissist, a cheesy showman promising to make America “great” again, while enriching himself and his family at taxpayers’ expense.
The GOP saw gold in them there hills. They saw an opportunity to lure a cultish TV audience hooked on a fake billionaire into their small, gold-colored tent. It was an irresistible chance to enlarge the Republican party's reach by dividing the country into fearful tribes, facilitated by dedicated propaganda channels and right-wing pundits spreading falsehoods — and a willingness to trade their integrity for ad revenues. Pretty great for them. How has that all worked out for the rest of us?
Qualities that would usually define “good,” as in “goodness,” would typically include honesty, empathy, love, kindness, patience, interest in the greater good, and integrity, to name just a few. You know, all of those fundamentally Christ-like qualities that have been roundly rejected by those seeking to make America “great again,” many in the name of Christ, ironically.
The closest we may have ever come to being “great” was when we recognized and acknowledged the inherent good in our national DNA - when we avoided wars, looked out for the disadvantaged, began to address the existential risks of climate change, worked towards economic security for all, embraced diversity, respected the rule of law, saw our neighbors as equals, educated our young people, and worked towards providing healthcare to millions of Americans, as a right instead of a privilege. You know, hard-fought aspirations and national values that have historically defined us as a good place to live, and which the Trump regime, its spineless GOP sycophants and its willfully-ignorant MAGA cult have been working overtime to abolish.
So maybe the reach is too high. Would it be asking too much to go back, at very least, to being a good America? Maybe even aspiring to become very good? In the business world, there’s a saying — “perfect is the enemy of good.” Well, looking at where we stand today, it sure seems like “great” has become “the enemy of good.”
Maybe there should be a new slogan, a new focus — “Make America Good Again.” That would be a great start.
(To participate in extended discussion and a vote, this article also appears on my Daily Kos page
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