You have probably heard it at some point during this election season. "Make America Great Again." This is the campaign slogan for the Republican nominee for president, Donald Trump. But what does this saying mean exactly?
This statement, "Make America Great Again," implies two different things. The first is that America was, at one point in her history, great. The second is, since that point, America somehow lost that greatness. Now both of these implications depend on one thing to determine their meaning. What do we define as great?
This is were we begin to run into trouble.
According to the Merriam-Webster online dictionary, great can mean a variety of things. One is large in either size or number. Another is to be full of emotion. Being distinguished or having eminence is another option. The principle or main thing in a set of things is also a way to define great, such as in great ballroom or great hall.
Now concerning these definitions, America is by no means the largest country by size or population but neither are we small. This means that the first definition of great is not correct. What about being full of emotion? I think that at this time Americans are filled with more emotion than for most of our history. Take for example the debate on police brutality and the Black Lives Matter movement. This discredits the second definition.
What about having eminence and being distinguished. It is certainly true that America is a world power and has been for most of the last century. However, this power has not been lot and as such there is no point in gaining it again. Is America the main or principle nation among all the other nations? Is this the greatness that is meant? While this could be argued, America is not the only country that could claim to be the main country and to do so would be arrogant and brash.
If none of these traditional definitions of great are what we are looking for then what makes America "Great?"
Some people may say our freedom. While this is certainly a great quality of America, we have not lost this freedom. The rights that are guaranteed to us through the Constitution still exist and have been added to since the beginning of our nation. We cannot gain again what has not been lost so the answer is not freedom.
Is it perhaps our economy? There is no doubt that our economy was strong, but it has also recovered from the recession in 2008. How can an economy be made great again if it is still great? The answer is it cannot. Therefore a great economy is not our answer.
Where then can we find the definition of what makes America great? I look to Alexis de Tocqueville.
Alexis de Tocqueville was a French historian in the early nineteenth century as well as a diplomat and political scientist. He traveled throughout America in the 1830s after which he wrote his book "Democracy in America." It is Tocqueville that makes an intriguing observation about what makes America great.
"The greatness of America lies not in being more enlightened than any other nation, but rather in her ability to repair her faults." -Tocqueville
This, as I see it, is an excellent description of what makes America great. In essence, Tocqueville states that America is not great because we are better than everyone else but because we can fix our flaws as a nation. This fits the definition of greatness that fits in with Trump's bold campaign slogan. America has lost her ability to fix her problems.
Now, whether Trump is the right candidate to repair America's faults is for you to decide. But regardless of who is elected in November, we need to strive to repair our faults as a nation as this is the quality that makes us great.
