Friday, August 25, 2017

Time to Shift #MAGA to Make America Great for ALL!


Donald Trump's catchy phrase, "Make America Great Again" or #MAGA, suggests a backward vision like wearing glasses on the back of your head. "Again" no longer exists. What was, is no longer.

The better #MAGA is Make America Great for ALL! To make America great for all is an inclusive phrase that leads the way to good living and a good future for all Americans, not one, not some, but ALL!

Trump is the overcorrection, the one whose redirecting our docile ways that led to a dormant democracy. His sensationalism, instability, rants, and rallies are waking Americans up, and making us all think about what's really important, and it's my belief that what's really important is to Make America Great for All! 

If we work, think, lead, and make decisions with this lens, we will do well for all the people we live with, work with, and serve in our lives. We will always be thinking in inclusive ways that better lives, not in ways that try to reawaken a past that no longer exists--the past that Trump so often refers to in his #MAGA Make America Great Again.


Sure there were great aspects of the old America that we can re-awaken. We can bring back greater civility and peace with more inclusive laws as well as regulations that protect lives/safety.

We can bring back more natural beauty and clean air, water, and soil with attention to the environment in the ways we live and lead.

We can bring back a greater sense of ceremony and community too--the kinds of strong communities marked by significant ceremonies that came together all over America to forward individual and collective strength and good living.

So we can reach back to the "Again" that Trump refers to and pull forward some of those old ways, lands, and living that are positive, but when we do that we have to do it with Make America Great for ALL in mind--we need to bring forward community, civility, a healthy environment, laws, regulations, and ceremony in ways that protect, serve, and forward ALL AMERICANS which will naturally translate to policies and endeavor that are good for the entire world and all people.

That "Again" Donald Trump's catchy, marketing #MAGA phrase refers to isn't inclusive and doesn't Make America Great for ALL. In that "Again" there was racism, poverty, lack of health care, little education, limited technology, and other grave obstacles that created a tough life for many. It pleases our psychological selves to imagine a utopia when we think about the past, but many of us live much better today thanks to terrific laws and efforts forwarded by so many to Make America Great for All.

In the old days, if you had a learning disability, you didn't receive the respect and good education that you can receive today thanks to those who advocated for fair education laws and those who studied, researched, and invented new ways and technologies to teach and learn well.

In the old days, if you had dark skin, your rights were limited. We still have a lot of work to do in this area, but the laws are better than in the past, and we can continue to work for betterment in this area if we use the lens, Make America Great for ALL!


In the old days, if you were a girl, you were relegated to the sidelines of most sports, and now you have equal opportunity in that realm which is awesome! I am so happy to see my young female students enjoying all kinds of sports whereas when I was young, I had limited choice and encouragement in that area of life.

The list of how life has improved over time in America goes on and on. I subscribe to the philosophy of Teilhard de Chardin who believed we are constantly evolving towards a greater good. To see with the words Make America Great for All is to see with Teilhard de Chardin's vision for a good world for all people. Pinker's research also affirms Chardin's vision since his facts and figures point to how our world is getting better, not worse as Trump would like so many to fear and believe.

As this post begins to ramble, I realize I will need to think more about this important shift, a shift from President Trump's role as a shocking wake-up call or an overcorrection in American history to MAKE AMERICA GREAT FOR ALL. Trump's overcorrection demonstrates what America can become if we're not mindful, alert, contributing, and well-informed, while MAKE AMERICA GREAT FOR ALL is a rallying response to Trump's incivility, disrespect, and destruction--a response and direction we can all embrace.