For vacation this summer, my family and I went to Cleveland, Chicago, and Pittsburgh (in that order). It's true what they say: People in the Midwest are indeed nicer. People say hi to you as you walk down the street. They ask how you're doing and seem genuinely interested. They make small talk about the weather to complete strangers. To an introvert like me, this was all very creepy (I was raised on the East Coast by parents from New Jersey). Nevertheless, my mom seemed to enjoy the excessive friendliness.
Cleveland is a lovely city. It has great food and the Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame--the only thing that ruined it was the residue of the Republican National Convention. Even two weeks later, the signs of what occurred were still there, notably, pictures of Donald Trump's giant, Oompa Loompa-esque face and his slogans. If you think I'm kidding, here's a poster I found in the front window of a candy store by my hotel:
The entire front window was plastered with posters like this one, along with others featuring Ronald Reagan and Sarah Palin. The whole display was enough to rot any liberal's sweet tooth! More than anything, though, I saw Trump's campaign slogan: "Make America Great Again."
Every time I had seen the slogan previously, I had just laughed it off. But seeing it so much on t-shirts, hats, and other paraphernalia got me thinking: "Make America Great...Again?" When exactly was America great before? A quick Google search revealed that Trump believes America was great during the mid-twentieth century, around the time of World War II. That makes sense, in a way. Patriotism was pretty high during that period. But, wait! You know what didn't exist then? Civil Rights, women's rights (other than voting,) the Americans with Disabilities Act, and much more. Knowing that, it seems like Trump wants to "Make America Great Again" for white, heterosexual, able-bodied, privileged men. That's just not a world I want to live in.
To combat Trump's slogan, Democrats have come up with the phrase "America is Already Great." However, I'm not sure this response is very helpful. Now, I'm about to write something that may upset those of you who are very patriotic. So, before I do, I just wanted to let you know in order to avoid lots of hate messages. You may want to skip this next part.
All right, here goes.
America isn't the greatest country ever. There, I said it. Somebody had to!
Look, America does a lot of things well. Notably, we have freedom of speech, freedom of the press, a government run by the people, and so on. However, we also have a lot of problems. Notably, gun violence (especially gun violence against people of color,) our healthcare system, our justice system, our immigration laws, our higher education system, and so much more. I know some of you might think that by saying this stuff I must hate America. I promise you, I don't. I love America, but I still believe we have issues that need to be fixed. The same way I love my friends, but I talk to them if they say or do something problematic; I'd want them to do the same for me. A better slogan for our country would be: "America Is Good, But Some of Our Institutions Are Highly Flawed," or the shorter version, "America Could Be Better." Unfortunately, neither of those are catchy enough to put on hats or t-shirts.
So, is Hillary the answer, then? Lots of people don't trust her, and I understand why. Personally, I was a Bernie fan during the primaries. However, I know the only people Trump would help while in office are people like him. And I definitely don't want to see his version of America come true.
