Letter: What makes America great?
What does MAGA mean? What is it that makes America Great? Is it having a president who bullies and intimidates foreign leaders as well as huge numbers of hard working and thoughtful US citizens including those with skin colors he doesn’t like, including veterans, immigrants, professional people and workers of all kinds as well by calling them names like “scum”,” vermin” , “losers”, “traitors” , “the enemy within”, so that often in defense they resort to name calling as well?
Is it having a president who fires those who do their best to make the government work efficiently, while in so doing, he rips apart the institutions that have had success with bringing about all the things we celebrate as good, such as our system of checks and balances as well as many of our institutions like libraries, museums, and national parks? Do his attempts to erase history by not allowing certain of our collective flaws to be mentioned so we no longer have to keep working to fix them in order to make this country great?
Are the numerous lies the president and his associates tell, and when called out, say it’s “fake news,” that make America Great? Or is it allowing wealthy criminals to go free while the poor are deprived of civil rights, and are deported, jailed, sent away from their families, without any due process? Could it be the greed and the grift of all these so-called “public servants” who are funneling wealth not only to themselves, but to the few billionaires, while over half the population struggles to keep up, making the U.S. great?
Along with huge numbers of people all over the country, I maintain that whatever greatness this country had is being shattered by the malfeasance of the government currently in power. The US is great not because it has ever been perfect in this nation of immigrants. It’s because so many of these “huddled masses” everywhere work hard despite not being billionaires, or even well paid and they are still doing what they need to do.
They take care of the sick, the old, and the disabled. They teach our children and help them grow into good adults despite the obstacles. They fix things when they break, our cars, plumbing, and more. They work in call centers, they drive ambulances, they police our streets. They work in stores, behind cash registers, computer screens, in factories. They pick up trash and keep our towns and cities clean. They grow the foods we need to survive. They process our food, they cook and clean up messes of all kinds. They defend our rights when called to do so.
When times are tough and disasters strike, they help each other. They shovel snow, they rescue the flooded and the stranded, they donate blood and money. These are the people who get up and do what needs to be done. They do it without looking at the skin color, the religion, the sexual preferences or the politics of the people they help. They do it because they are good people who care.
I speak for many who are disturbed and saddened by the corruption that seems to be blurring our national vision. The single-minded focus on wealth and the concurrent attacks on our constitution are most troubling. Yet I still see the possibility of a vibrant democracy with knowledgeable, respectful and civil leaders at the helm, though only when we can work through our differences to make it so.
So how do we return our country to what flawed greatness it still possesses? Sadly, I wish I had the answer to that. But this I do know: Until we begin anew to pay close attention to our better angels and focus on those things humanity has always considered good—humility, kindness, patience, diligence, respect, and turn our backs on pride, greed, envy, vengeance and work together to do the right things right, the “swamp” at the center of our government will continue to deepen, as it engulfs and destroys much of our heritage and our birthright as evolving humans.
Despite the dark times, I have great faith that the cultural collective of hard-working, deep-thinking humans will stand firm against the tide of darkness and the government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth.
Jeanne Melchior
Jasper
