Here's a question. If America is the "Greatest Country on Earth" exactly what is it great at?
It's true that we have the largest economy on Earth but is that a great thing? What are we great at? Profit and Earnings? Theft? Murder? Exploiting the poor? Creating false hope? Are we #1 in Math? Are we #1 in Science? Are we #1 in Art? Are we #1 in college education? Are we #1 in Freedom? Are we #1 in practically anything? (Hint: No.) Do we have the best legal system? The best government? The best food? The best culture? Sure, we have good healthcare — if you can afford it. Sure, we have good colleges — if you can afford it.
And another thing: Is Real America only rural America? Only the Heartland matters? Cities don't count? People in New York and Los Angeles supposedly aren't "Real" Americans? That again is simply put - bullshit. It's exclusionary. California - which is running a budget surplus, has the largest economy in the US and 5th largest in the world - is just as American as Kansas. Flat places with wave of grain don’t have a monopoly of American-ness. Most of the Blue States are actually very productive and donor states when it comes to Federal Taxes while most Red states are beneficiaries. Red States that are out to ban abortion also have the highest rates of both infant and maternal mortality — they can’t even keep the babies and mothers that they already have alive, let alone the unwanted fetuses. Crime and murder is actually HIGHER in Red States than Blue States. Your states NEED our support to keep you functioning, but then you turn around and talk shit about us? You look down your nose at us? Seriously?
It's possible to grow very, very rich in America. That gets easier if your family already has wealth. (like say $400 Million to give you through specious means) But even without that it's possible to achieve in America even against the odds, even if you are born poor.
But it's not easy.
In fact, it's really, really fucking hard. We like that it's hard. We like that getting ahead is difficult, we love the image of the "hard working American" who strives against problem after problem, challenge after challenge. That's part of REAL America where nothing comes easy.
Yeah, well, the truth is - that's stupid. That's slave logic. "The massa won't whip me
if a pick just a little more cotton...."
Things don't have to be so ridiculously difficult. Working hard is often working dumb. There are always ways to improve efficiency, improve effectiveness and improve productivity. People can and should *Work Smart*, not just work hard. We have this idolized image of people only getting ahead because they're willing to pour 50, 60, 70 hours a week into their career. We're taught to work like dogs by the people who benefit and profit from that work. The harder we work, the more they profit and the richer they get. We don’t. We are geared by these teachings to work ourselves to the bone, and beyond, to achieve their financial goals - but what about our goals and dreams?
Do you realize that in other countries, countries that rank higher than ours, they get free stuff? In most civilized and developed countries Healthcare is free. College is free in Norway, Finland, Denmark, Germany, France and Sweden. There is no tuition. FREE. In other countries people get weeks of family leave, and even more weeks of vacation. In other countries they have bullet trains!! Some countries pay women to stay home and be mothers because they feel that's a worthwhile job to do, instead of every household having to have two incomes and children having to raise themselves using social media. Has it made them lazy? Has it made them complacent? NO! Their workers are happy, they are well compensated and well appreciated. They have higher worker productivity than we do. Ireland, Norway, Switzerland, Luxembourg and Germany all rank above the U.S. in productivity, with Denmark and France right behind.
I bring all this up because these are examples of how the U.S. can improve. Why can't we have good stuff too? I'd like a bullet train. We are not currently the greatest nation, but we could be with some additions and correction.
Also our history is not nearly as glorious as has been advertised.
What we want is a better America that has (hopefully) learned from it's past mistakes and also learns from the best from any and all other countries. That's doesn't mean Socialism, or Fascism and it doesn't mean Communism - all are largely failed ideologies - it means increased freedom and opportunity for everyone. Regardless of being rich or poor. Regardless of religion. Regardless of race. Regardless of gender or gender orientation. Real Freedom. We don't Hate America - we Love this nation. But we don't love it because of some idealized fairy tale bed time story about how things used to be — we don’t love it because of Westerns, or because of the Founding Fathers — we love it because it has the potential and ability to be better, America has the potential to grow. We love America for what it can become and how it just might - maybe - ultimately embrace and uplift everyone of us. We're not out to tear anyone else down.
That is clearly not what Trump wants. Not even a little bit. He thinks some people are more American than others. He thinks some people are BETTER than others.
When Trump came down the escalator and called most Mexicans criminals -- we heard what he was really saying. We heard OLD America. We heard Chinese Exclusion, we heard Internment, we heard Segregation, we heard Custer, we heard "Get back in the closet", we heard Jim Crow, we heard Slavery.
When he ran for election he told the Russians to "Find Hillary's emails" - even though he knew they were already looking, and his people (from Steven Bannon to Roger Stone) later told Wikileaks to release some of them to cover up for his "Grab "em by the Pussy" tape. Yes, they did that - it's all laid out in Roger Stone's criminal trial.
He came into office and he banned Muslims. It didn't matter if they had anything to do with Al Qeada or Isis, he just banned them by the millions. Just cuz "Immigrants." He put Latino Children in Cells, Tent Cities and Concentration Camps. He told Neo-Nazis and Confederates that they were "very fine people" too. He and his people tried to drop sanctions on Russia at least 3 separate times for no apparent good reason. He said he believed Putin over his own intelligence agencies. He claimed he didn't want refugees from Haiti and Africa because they were "Shit Hole Countries." He and his people repeatedly tried to downplay the growing violence caused by White Supremacists by altering a Homeland Security Report. He told President Zelensky that he "needed to do us a favor" of making up a fake scandal about Biden before he would give him Congressionally mandated aid. He threatened NATO to spend 2% of their GDP on defense, when they'd already agreed to start doing that in 2014, then he threatened to break NATO completely. He repeatedly called Covid-19 the "Kung Flu" prompting violence to spread against Asians. He said "if you see someone about to throw a fruit - knock the crap out of them. I'll pay for your legal fees." He tried to use the US Army against Floyd protestors and told them to "shoot them in the knee", and "Crack {Their) Skulls." He and his people refused to come up with a national testing strategy for Covid because he wanted the "Democrat States" (like New York) to keep suffering. He refused to cooperate during the transition and failed to provide any vaccine distribution plan of his own. His effort to force China to it's knees with tariffs failed miserably and ended up costing 245,000 American jobs. He told people to drink bleach, shove UV lights under their skin and shoot up Ivermectin and Hydroxychloroquin when neither had any affect on Covid. His plan to negotiate with the Taliban without involving the Afghan Government ended the only way that it could - in Disaster. And it was even worse because all the translators who had worked with our troops could have already been out except that HE. HAD. BANNED. THEM. He told the Proud Boys to "Stand back and stand by" and they did exactly that - until January 6. While a MAGA mob swarmed the Capitol he falsely claimed it was "Antifa", then said "We love you. You're very special" and sat on his hands and watched TV for 3 hours, he didn't call the Capitol Police, he didn't call the Mayor, he didn't call the FBI, he didn't call Homeland Security and he didn't call the Pentagon. He did nothing, except egg the crowd on about how "Mike Pence betrayed him." For some mysterious reason (probably trying to confirm his cockamamie lunatic “Deep State” conspiracies) he illegally stole 27 boxes of U.S. government documents and put them in his basement at Mar-A-Lago, then he personally hid part of them from the National Archives in the closet behind his office and his lawyers put out a filing that admits he violated the Espionage act. As many as 300,000 Americans died needlessly specifically because of him and his selfish “testing means more positive results” bullshit.
Some of us might Hate this guy, not all of us — I certainly don’t — but if some do, it's for damn good reasons.
He deserves to be hated for his own despicable actions, and the incredibly negative influence he's had on the nation - not just "because."
It’s not just mad mindless hatred, he earned it.