Make America Great Again

No, I am not promoting, the current administration's slogan.

But I am after the same goal:  make America great again!  I just have a different 'tact' for how to do that.  

Well, let's begin with what not to do.  We do not make America great again...by...

• bullying and being abusive
• majoring in partisan, competitive rancor
• thinking nationalistically, not globally
• talking incessantly, narcistically about our own greatness
• leading erratically, creating a sense of confusion and chaos 

Well, enough of that.   But then, how do we make America great again?  To begin, you return to the founding vision of America's most moral, ethical, godly leaders.

Normally, we access George Washington or Abraham Lincoln; and well we should.  But I believe an overlooked American leader is John Adams.  

For starters, consider this petition, penned right before moving into the newly built White House.  Writing to his wife Abigail, the love of his life, Adams observed:

"...I pray to heaven to bestow the best of blessings on this house and on all that shall hereafter inhabit it. May none but honest and wise men ever rule under this roof."  https://www.masshist.org/digitaladams/archive/doc?id=L18001102ja 

Along with honesty and wisdom, Adams also promoted justice.  Adams did that, not only in words, but also in action, as one of the few founding leaders not to own slaves.

Adams also advocated balance, particularly, in power.  Adams' biographer, David McCullough gives details. 

 "...[Adams] said, we are all equal in the eyes of God...that we must have a government that is in balance; that you have executive, judicial, and legislative branches...he was very distrustful of the majority...He said too much power in an individual, too much power in a majority is dangerous..." http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/entertainment-july-dec02-mccullough_07-04/

But Adams felt too much pride was the greatest danger.  Writing to his son, John Quincy Adams, and subsequently to granddaughter Caroline, Adams concluded:

"...The Lord deliver us from all family pride...No pride...no pride...The longer I live, the more I read, the more patiently I think, and the more anxiously I inquire, the less I seem to know...Do justly, Love mercy, Walk humbly.  This is enough...."  David McCullough.  John Adams.  New York:  Simeon and Schuster, 2001, p. 650.   

And so John Adams (among others) provides strong markers of greatness for today: honesty, wisdom, justice, balance, humility.  Let's unpack each of these themes:

• Honesty.  There's too much jockeying today, and not enough straight-forwardness.   Regrettably, for a lot of us, 'life is a game.' http://wwwpaulmundey.blogspot.com/2017/02/its-all-game-isnt.html   But, life is not a game, but a gift that should be dominated by truth-full-ness, and not crooked speech. 

• Wisdom.  We must 'dial-back' foolish, impulsive behavior.  In particular we need to guard our tongue, and not spout off (or tweet) every impulse.  Proverbs reminds us:   "The one who has knowledge (e.g. wisdom) uses words with restraint and whoever has understanding is even-tempered. Even fools are thought wise if they keep silent and discerning if they hold their tongues."  (Proverbs 17:27-28).

• Justice.  The Statue of Liberty is our beacon and Matthew 25:34ff our mantra. "Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore." (The New Colossus; The Stature of Liberty) / "...For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat... I was a stranger and you invited me in.  I needed clothes and you clothed me..."  (Matthew 25:34-38),

• Balance.  As my wife often reminds me:  life is not a competition.  So we need a noncompetitive, nonpartisan approach to solving problems -- including our nation's current crisis.  

Though not immune from competitive, partisan strategy, John McCain articulated well, recently, the path ahead, politically:   

"…I think we’d all agree they haven’t been overburdened by greatness lately…Both sides have let this happen…Certainly I have...Sometimes, I made it harder to find common ground because of something harsh I said to a colleague. Sometimes, I wanted to win more for the sake of winning than to achieve a contested policy…“I hope we can again rely on…our need to cooperate, on our dependence on each other to learn how to trust each other again..." http://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2017/07/25/mccain-returns-to-senate-floor-full-remarks.cnn

• Humility. Puffing our greatness, either individually or as a nation, 'takes us nowhere.'  Thus, the godliest founders (and sadly, not all our founders were godly) realized that they were not God and American, though mindful of the Creator, was not The Kingdom. Thus, humility marks the writings of Adams and other righteous founders.  Humility must also mark us.  And so we puncture individual narcissism, for self-centeredness is currently on steroids. But we also puncture national narcissism.  For the future is not found in making America great again, by making America number one, again, in terms of self-interest. No, we make America great again, by making America, a great servant, again. (for a review of current trends to the contrary, see:  https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/11/business/economy/trumps-security-vision-leaves-little-room-for-plowshares.html

I see the eyes rolling and the smirks widening.  "How naive" some are muttering.  "You really mean:  make America the doormat of the world, again!"  

No.  I mean make America great again, by making America a great servant, again.   It can be done, well...wise...without being duped or trampled.

The way forward:  a new Marshall Plan.   As some might recall, the Marshall Plan was one of this countries most generous, successful humanitarian efforts, ever.  Over four years (1947-1951) the U.S. poured over 13 billion dollars (130 billion in today's dollars) into efforts to rebuild Europe after WWII.

But the core genius of the Marshall Plan was not it's dollars and cents or locale -- but the way it reconnected the U.S. to the rest of the world, after a brutal world war.  As George C. Marshall  said in his vision-casting commencement address at Harvard, on June 5, 1947:  

“the people of this country are distant from the troubled areas of the earth and it is  hard for them to comprehend the plight and consequent reactions of the long-suffering peoples.” https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/how-far-weve-fallen-from-the-marshall-plan/2017/06/05/58d55370-49f9-11e7-9669-250d0b15f83b_story.html   

So too for us today.  We too are distant from the troubled areas of the earth.  Thus, we need a new Marshall Plan to help us reconnect.  As Danielle Allen commented recently: 

 "...Seventy years after Marshall's compelling...vision...America is...as distant in our sympathies from the troubled areas of the earth as [ever]...It strikes me, therefore that this should be a a moment to recommit to the cause of connection that Marshall identified as urgent..."  https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/how-far-weve-fallen-from-the-marshall-plan/2017/06/05/58d55370-49f9-11e7-9669-250d0b15f83b_story.html?     

As Allen goes on to say, figuring out concretely how to do so is no small matter, and frankly, some consider the idea ill-informed. https://www.cato.org/publications/commentary/look-behind-marshall-plan-mythology  But given the legacy of American ingenuity, we can find a way forward! 

For we do want to make America great again!  So, why not hearken back to our greatest moments (such as the Marshall Plan) and reclaim our identify not as the toughest, fiercest, 'meanest,' most powerful nation around -- but as the kindest, most compassionate, most generous, most welcoming, most servant-like people, to ever populate the earth! 

That is America's legacy.  That is America's greatness.