Make America Great Again!

Who says we aren’t great already? And still improving?

Writing every day on current events and philosophical reflections I have discovered that there is much each of us can do to live fully and to help others. Of course this means we will be contributing to the ongoing quality of life here in America, land that we love – or at least we claim we love!

Contributing daily to the common good makes our nation great. Being involved helps us understand current events better and able to invent solutions to problems along the way. I think this is what made us great in the past, and does for the present, and will in the future. It is in the ‘DNA’ of our society.

Those who think we are not great I think are cynics. I doubt they truly think we are not great, but disagree seriously with people who hold other ideologies and governance ideas. If that is true they are throwing the baby out with the bath water. That’s opinionated bullshit. You know it and I know it. I think they know it as well.

Donald Trump is a blowhard politician wannabe. He can only gain traction by drawing attention to himself. He makes many claims on specific issues. Please note, however, that he never provides an answer that is a serious contender to managing the issue he has raised. Deporting over 11 million ‘illegal immigrants’ would cost an estimated $137 billion. It would denude our workforce of valuable labor. Many of those jobs would go empty and begging. Americans avoid those jobs, thus the demand for immigrant workers. The disruption within our economy alone would wreak havoc for years. I suggest The Donald consider productive assimilation of those same immigrants. Besides I think he has ignored the FICA taxes these immigrants have paid into Social Security and Medicare, thus propping up those programs.

Education in America is a growing mess but is it a failure? No; far from it. Does it need re-engineering and a whole lot of re-invention? I think so. Those two efforts would weed out the junk in the system and bring more focus to the process of learning at all ages throughout our lifetime. American education is accessible. It is beyond that of a social movement. It is a force unto itself. It is so good that millions of foreign nationals study here, remain here, research here, build fruitful lives here. There was a time when foreign nationals studied here so they could return to their homeland and help build their nation. That still happens, but less so today; more foreign students remain in America to seek their fortune and success.

Same with invention in corporate life. Microsoft happened in America. So did Apple. So did Warren Buffet and Berkshire Hathaway, and Boeing, GE, Ford Motor Company and so many other companies. The entire Silicon Valley miracle is invention cubed. Do great things happen in other countries? Of course they do. But in America generations of great things are birthed and morphed into generations still to come.

And music, the arts, theater and so many other creative venues in American culture allow things to happen that are magical. The art of business is also one of our strengths. But there are limits in all of these departments of life.

Yes. Limits. Some arenas become tired, bored even. Luster is lost and energy along with it. Getting the mojo back is something needed in most avenues of endeavor. Take the American automotive industry. We have size there. We have the physical plant. We have the technology. But we lack something that is hard to put our finger on.

I wonder what that is? Are we following the leader too much? Is this industry leaderless? Are they afraid of new directions that may take them far afield of where they began? Maybe so. Maybe that’s what is needed.  Think Tesla. Observe how others are playing catch up with Tesla while it forges ahead making automotive history all on its own.

What other industries ought to be reinventing themselves? Is that what made America great in the first place? Is that what will propel us yet again?

I do think we have lost our edge more than a bit. But it is up to each of us to bring it back. And it doesn’t begin by voting for people who do not contribute to the process in the first place. No; that role belongs with the rest of us who are willing to take a chance on fresh thought, ideas and investment.

The future lies before us. Whatever will we do with it?

I hope a lot, not waste a lot!

September 21, 2015