Dear Patriot,
It's clear that there are some things to be improved on. Our country seems to be in the beginnings of another civil war. And so, I would like to know when exactly you think America was great? What time period should we strive to be more like and would therefore "Make America Great Again?"
Do you think America was great in the years that followed September 11th, 2001? We came together as a nation and went to war in Afghanistan and then continued to war in Iraq killing many; some who were responsible and lots who were not. Is that the great America you would like to see?
Perhaps you think America was great in the 1980's when our streets were battling some of the worst drug problems America has seen and when, in Mississippi, women had yet to gain the right to vote. Is this the America you want to live in?
Is it the 1950's and 1960's when racism was still rampant, before Roe v. Wade, woman's liberation, great technological advances and the first voyages into outer space? Do you want to live in an America where "colored" is listed above restrooms and drinking fountains? Do you wish an America where the woman's place is in the kitchen?
If none of these are the America you think is great, and I'm assuming you don't want to live in the America of the previous twenty years with World War II and The Great Depression, then it must be the 1920's that we should strive to be more like. A time when alcohol was outlawed and people would dance the night away in mob run speakeasies. I mean, who doesn't like jazz music? But, I'm going to guess that you are an honest person and the idea of all that lawlessness irks you a bit so this certainly could not be the America you want to live in and before that there was another world war so unless you are a fiend for war, I'm going to go with the idea that this is not a great America at all.
So, the turn of the 20th century could be the ideal America you are after. This was a time when big industries took great advantages of their workers, paying them starvation wages and working them to death. When there was no oversight of the products being sold as food which meant milk was tainted with chemicals and meat products might be found to have part of the worker who fell into the machine and was ground up in it. This was a time before unions had much influence in the safety of the working man and to the company he was expendable. He was expendable because a child could be found to do the job for less and the children had to work or else their families would die of starvation. I guess if you were the boss, then yeah, this is your great America, but are you really that heartless? Perhaps you are.
Before that? I think we'd be hard pressed to find anybody who wants to live in a world without cars and running water. A world with diseases that nobody knows how to cure. But, we did have guns and I'm pretty sure that is a staple of your ideals. Would you like America to model itself after the 1860's when we had the greatest divide in American opinion? When half the people believed that all men were created equal and the other half thought that some of the men weren't human at all? Well, as you know, the ones that thought they were better than the rest lost the first civil war and had to give up their slaves. I don't think anyone is left who thinks they deserve to have a slave. That said, is this the America you think is great?
We are not a perfect nation, we never have been and we probably never will be, but I believe that we are the greatest we have ever been and the only thing that will make us greater is when we start treating each other and the world with respect. We must continue to make progress instead of gutting the progress we have already made. America is great. It doesn't need to be made great again. But, if you still think there was a time when it was greater than it is today, I ask you; please describe when this was.
Sincerely,
Matthew Sanderson
