I was recently asked a question that I had never really given much thought to. I had mentioned to a friend that the reactions to my “Make America Great Again” hat have been extremely positive this year. Whenever I go out with the hat on, there are five to ten “I like your hat” comments from people. My friend then asked me, “What do you mean by Make America Great Again? When do you want to go back to that was so great?” I immediately knew where he was going. You see, my friend is black. America does not have the best record when it comes to how black people have been treated in the past. Until the 1860’s, Democrats thought black people were inferior, so they enslaved them. Until the 1960’s, Democrats thought black people were inferior, so they segregated them. Now, Democrats think black people are inferior, so they push lower standards for them through affirmative action and DEI.
As you can see, you have to look at what people actually mean by the slogan to really understand it. Obviously, it does not mean that we want to go back to slavery or segregation. When my friend asked me, I answered that it is not about that at all, but when I tried to explain what it is about, I had trouble putting it into words. Since then, I have been thinking about what we mean by “Make America Great Again.” When you look at it from the right perspective, it really is simpler than it seems.
First, you have to realize that the slogan “Make America Great Again” implies that things have gone wrong in our country. If you can agree to that fact, the rest of the explanation falls easily into place. My friend who asked the question would be the first to say that our country has gone off the rails. When we say, “Make America Great Again,” we do not mean that we want to bring back failures from the past. We fixed slavery. We fixed segregation. Those bad things should be left in the past. The things we want to bring back are the good things that have gone awry.
Most of us can acknowledge that our country has some major issues. By looking at those problems, we can fill in the blanks of what needs to be made great again. Here are some of the obvious ones:
- We used to be able to afford to buy a meal for the family at a local drive-thru restaurant. Now, inflation has made food (and almost everything else) exorbitantly expensive. Making America Great Again means making our money worth more and our lives affordable again.
- People used to strive for the American Dream. They wanted to start a successful business and make enough money to buy a house and provide for their family. Now, government regulations and excessive taxes have made it nearly impossible to run a successful business. Making America Great Again means bringing back the opportunity to reach the American Dream.
- We used to fight crime, support our police, and prosecute criminals so that we could live in relative safety. Now, we make major crimes into misdemeanors, we unfairly slander and try to defund our police, and we let criminals get away with murder, sometimes literally. We even make it easy for criminals and terrorists from other countries to enter our country illegally. Making America Great Again means taking criminals off our streets and securing our borders so we can be safe again.
- We used to have both major parties agree when it came to supporting our greatest ally, Israel. In fact, Harry Truman, a Democrat, was the president who pushed for the creation of modern Israel. Now, we have people in our streets shouting “Death to Israel and death to America!” We have Democrats walking out of speeches by the Israeli Prime Minister and trying to block military aid to Israel. Making America Great Again means standing with Israel.
- We used to have something called comedy. Movies and television shows were made with jokes that were funny. You could make jokes about being gay, race, disabled people, and more. Now, people are overly sensitive and are told to feel offended about everything. We hear things like, “That movie hasn’t aged well.” (If you hear that, it is probably a funny movie that you should watch.) Comedians are criticized and sometimes blackballed for making jokes. Making America Great Again means being less sensitive, defending comedians, and making America funny again.
- In the past, most people on both sides loved God and wanted to please Him. Now, Christians are slandered as bigots for holding mainstream Christian beliefs. Making America Great Again means praying and advocating for a religious revival and a turning back to God by our nation.
- We used to have sports for both men and women to compete. Now, men can say they identify as a woman and compete in women’s sports. Making America Great Again means recognizing that men are different than women and should not be allowed to compete in women’s sports.
This is in no way a complete list, but it is a taste of what we mean by “Make America Great Again.” It does not mean that America was ever a perfect place, but it does mean that many things have declined and should be repaired. To make an analogy, say that ten years ago your house had a leaky roof, and you got it repaired. Now, your plumbing has a broken pipe and the house has flooded. If you said, “I want to make my house great again,” would that mean you want to go back to when you had a leaky roof? Of course not. It means you want to fix the broken pipe that is causing problems now. Just like that, “Make America Great Again” does not mean that we want to bring back problems from the past. It means we want to repair the problems that we have now. Now, let’s get to work and “Make America Great Again!”
Steve Connally's Brain 