The Dangers of Making America Great Again

Things have been written before about the administration's slogan, “Make America Great Again”. In an interview with the Washington Post that was published in January, Trump described the thought process behind the slogan, which he trademarked in 2013. He explains that he discarded the shorter version, “Make America Great” because, in his opinion, "that was a slight to America because that means it was never great before." The message resonated with many people. It is not that “Make America Great Again” is successful in conveying a universal message. The fact that the slogan worked well with a particular demographic is a testament to its ambiguity. It is an invitation to assume that you and an elite developer from New York known for his showmanship share the same idea of what makes this country great. 

 It is not clear by which standards we declare greatness. The greatness part will be whatever you want it to be, and although caution dictates that we read the definition of greatness before we move ahead with this ideological contract, we nod along in the dark as the focus shifts from what makes America great to how we make it great again. This “again” is the one concrete part of the message. The implication is that the key to our greatness lies somewhere in the past. That things were better before, although it is not clear when or for whom. Consider that our great past is also interwoven with great injustice, and depending on who you are, the message can either repel or invigorate you. You may think I’m overly sensitive for being skeptical of the past as a guideline for the future. The truth is that as a woman, an agnostic, and a Latina, I have no romantic nostalgia for the past. My hopes have always lain in the promises of progress the future may bring. Yet despite our history, I have never thought of America as less than great. Although this country was built on the blood and tears of lives that were deemed inferior, and despite our national struggle with the repercussions from that history that still reverberate today, I believe in our greatness. I believe in our greatness, despite the resurgence of groups that openly promote ideas to legitimize inequality and the betrayal of those who suddenly embrace such inhumane ideas. Despite the troubling ease with which some fellow Americans regress to tribal behavior and make monsters out of others, I believe in our greatness. I believe in this greatness as the potential of what we can become and not what we have been. I will believe in our greatness for as long as there are those wishing to move forward towards fulfilling that truth that was once so clear as to be self-evident. 

 America is great and it will continue to be after Trump, not because of him but despite of him. I reject the idea that the success of some must come at the cost of everyone else. I believe we can all rise together if we work together. We have never reached that greatness in which all of us can equally participate, and simply because of that, I know that our better days lie not in the past but in the future. 



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