America Has Never Been a Truly “Great” Nation
We Have a Shit-Ton of Work to Do to Reach That Level
The first time I heard Donald Trump talking about making America great again, I laughed. Who is THIS morally bankrupt piece of shit to tell America how we should and shouldn’t behave? Emphasis on the shouldn’t part.
Donald Trump was a draft dodger. He also discriminated against people of color in his rental practices some 50 years ago. When he wasn’t busy bankrupting his businesses and walking in on teenage girls changing during his beauty pageants, he was sexually assaulting women like E. Jean Carroll and I’m sure numerous others. A lifetime fucking creep.
All of this before pretending that his wisdom, guidance, and policies were going to make America great again. He should have done a little research about The United States of America’s history and spotty track record regarding basic human rights.
Because of the blind patriotism of the MAGA cult, it is considered blasphemy to criticize America. When you point out examples of our country’s shady, checkered past, conservatives lose their shit.
But America has never truly been great. The fact that the earliest Americans committed genocide against the indigenous people who had always lived here disqualifies us automatically. The theft of their land, resources, and food supply is disgusting and one of the darkest moments in our nation’s history.
Add to that the kidnapping, rape, torture, and murder of Native American men, women, children, and babies. Giving the native population a fraction of the lands they occupied in the form of reservations and meager, government payouts doesn’t make up for the atrocities we’ve committed as a nation. Most Native Americans would not consider America “great”.
And how about the kidnapping and enslavement of African people to “help make America great”? You think that our early American ancestors had the right to travel to Africa, kidnap and transport African citizens, and unload the ones who survived the brutal journey across the ocean? Forcing them to work for free against their own will, mercilessly beating or killing anybody who refused to comply?
All of this just because they wanted free labor to work the newly stolen lands they took from the Native Americans? And before you assume this was just the 1700s to 1800s MAGA Americans, think again. Thomas Jefferson owned slaves. He raped one woman and fathered at least six children with her.
And he wasn’t the only one. Twelve of our first 18 presidents owned slaves. Morally bankrupt bastards.
So basically, 2/3 of our earlier presidents owned slaves and felt this was okay to do. I commend those other six who wanted no part of slavery. Some people these days would say, “Well, that’s just how it was back then, it was a common thing to own slaves.” So what? It was still wrong, and the fact that it WAS that way in our country is another reason America has never been great.
Slavery was ended by Abraham Lincoln months after the end of the Civil War in 1865 with the passage of the 13th Amendment. Native American slavery also ended in 1866. But this didn’t automatically create true equality for all people in our nation. When did this actually happen?
Spoiler alert: It didn’t.
159 years later, America is still blatantly racist. It’s become more and more evident in the decade we’ve been dealing with Douchebag Trump and his MAGA supporters. Any progress that was made from the time of the Civil Rights movement until the present day has been set back substantially by the open hostility toward minorities and marginalized citizens, such as the LGBTQ community.
According to one study, hate crimes in counties where Trump held campaign rallies during his 2016 presidential campaign increased by 226%. They’ve increased each year in most places as his horribly racist and bigoted rhetoric emboldened many of his followers to openly commit heinous, racist, bigoted acts. Crimes against Blacks, Hispanics, Asians, and LGBTQ people have increased steadily.
America cannot be considered a truly great country until we fix the racism and bigotry that permeates all fifty states. Our educational system is piss-poor in most states, particularly in rural, conservative areas. Christianity is being pushed by the Religious Right, and they’re openly hostile toward properly educating children.
And the book banning. Don’t get me started on that horse shit. What happened to freedom of choice?
Oh, and speaking of choice, Trump’s unfairly stacked Conservative Christian Supreme Court took away women’s reproductive rights in the blink of an eye. Red states followed suit with some of the most restrictive abortion bans that haven’t been seen since the landmark Roe vs. Wade case that protected a woman’s right to choose regarding her own reproductive rights.
American women are dying because of this, one poor woman recently in Georgia. Old, religious white men suddenly feel entitled to pass laws dictating what a woman can and can’t do with her own body. Women and children have died because of these new laws. It seems to be a similar scenario back when these same men were controlling slaves’ lives.
The fear of losing their perceived power has insecure, conservative weak-ass men clamoring to support the worst politicians in America. The fact that so many are still supporting a wannabe dictator like Trump after 91 criminal charges in four different indictments is telling. I saw this coming a mile away.
Many MAGA supporters have cut ties and lost family members and long-time close friends over Donald Trump. Allowing your politician of choice to divide your family and ruin friendships is just unhinged, irrational behavior. Especially when it’s a narcissistic limp-dick like Trump.
Elevating a sleazy, lying, racist politician to the position of a rock star or god-like figure would be laughable if it wasn’t so dangerously deranged. Just look at the events of January 6th, 2021. We came fairly close to Trump’s MAGA followers overthrowing our government. And now he’ll have to answer for this and his many other crimes, after he’s defeated in the November election.
I for one, can’t wait. The trial centered around his attempted election interference and fraud in Georgia is going to be particularly enjoyable to watch. Until politicians like Donald Trump are held accountable for their lies, crimes, and the creation of discord and divisiveness, America will never truly be great.
And notice I didn’t say “great again”. Because America has never been great. We’ve had some historically great moments in our nation’s history, to be certain. But the refusal to teach our nation’s history accurately in schools is disturbing. Whitewashing historical facts due to our pride and not wanting to look bad is hypocrisy at its finest.
This brilliant clip from The Newsroom sums up exactly how I feel about the claim that America is the greatest country in the world. Check it out:
To automatically assume that we’re better than other countries of the world across the board is simply ignorant. The chest-thumping strutting around on the world stage makes us look like assholes. Our hypocritical stance on laws that negatively affect marginalized citizens and women is not what true freedom is about.
Freedom has to include freedom from religious influence and beliefs. Freedom must be inclusive to all citizens, and the belief that all people are created equal. And that their unalienable rights must be recognized and protected.
This is what it will take to make America great. Not again, but for the first time. For being the self-proclaimed party of law and order and preaching about less government and more personal freedom, the Republican side surely needs to work on fixing their ignorance and hypocrisy.
© 2024 Jason Provencio. All rights reserved.
Thank you for encapsulating many important points in one concise article. ✔️ I started questioning this concept of American “greatness” in recent years, especially with the rise in mass shootings following the Sandy Hook massacre —complete with all the lies promulgated by right wing politicians and “personalities” such as Alex Jones.👺
I agree that it is arrogant of us to presume such “greatness” when we live in a veritable “War Zone” in this country.
Again, I appreciate your well-written summation of our checkered past (*and* present!), and I do believe that we, as a nation, should always be striving to *do better* and be our best selves.
There is ALWAYS room to grow, and we can start by making sure that the malignant narcissistic felonious sociopath (and his legion of enablers) NEVER has a hold on power again—EVER—in this country…AND that Trumpism/MAGA is remanded to the dustbin of history. Of course, this rests on the shoulders of “We the people…” and our turnout in this upcoming consequential election of 2024.
My daughter-in-law is a German citizen living here in the US. She has her degree in Political Science and is well traveled. She isn’t bashful about pointing out the arrogant myth of American Exceptionalism. And I know she’s right. We have much to be ashamed of.