The infuriatingly wrong thing about the slogan “Make America Great Again” is that it declares that the United States has become an also-ran in the global lineup. It also begs the question, if America is no longer great, who among the other nations has moved into that top spot?
Some would argue that the country’s decline into mediocrity or worse began in 2009, when Obama took office, while others would suggest that our national distress started with the financial crisis of 2007-2008 under Bush, or maybe even in 2001 when terrorists exploited a vulnerability we didn’t know existed.
Or maybe it’s just a campaign rallying cry that seems to address whatever grievance or belief an individual voter might have, but does not mean the country has become a shadow of its former self.
Yes, we have lost jobs to cheaper labor overseas — as well as to automation — as U.S. companies seek to improve their bottom lines for the benefit of other Americans who invested in them and for American consumers, who shop according to price.
It is also true that health care in this country is a mess, although the matter of eliminating coverage for the six million Republicans and five million Democrats who signed up through the national insurance program isn’t going to be easy.
Regardless of these and the multiple other issues political party loyalists of both sides go on about, you should ask yourself how many other nations on the planet can boast of having well over a million people disagreeing almost simultaneously in their capital cities without fear of government interference or reprisal.
One side might not have liked what the other stood for, but that’s American democracy in action. No one ever said democracy was crisp, clean and folded into our cultural fabric just so. It’s loud, messy and untamed, and because of that America continues to be an exceptional nation. Some of us would even go as far as to say it’s great.