As we come to a close of the 2018 year many are wondering what makes us united as a nation. What is the core value of being an American? In the past Americans have been seen as the movers and shakers of the world. We were seen as courageous, steadfast and a symbol of inclusiveness for all races and nationalities. We were respected as a nation and our opinion mattered to the entire world as we stood for democracy and freedom.

As a nation, America was trusted in the United Nations, respected as a strong leader in the world. We were seen as being reasonable, able to make sound judgments based on intelligent research and data. If we listen to our president, America is “great again” and it’s “great again” because of the accomplishments that he, and he alone has made thus far during his presidential term. 

Well, if “great again” means that we, as a nation, find ourselves being ruled by an authoritarian type of government, with a leader who visibly shows his childlike behavior by angrily crossing his arms and frowning when questioned about his decisions; if being “great again” means having a presidential leader yell at people to “sit down, sit down” and only answer the questions he wants to answer at press conferences; if being “great again” means having a presidential leader who seems to be more concerned with tweeting tweets in the wee hours of the morning rather than getting some rest so that he can think clearly at his next meetings; if being “great again” means having a presidential leader who seems to have a knack for being disrespectful to women, minorities, immigrants and other countries; if being “great again” means that we have to deal with an increase of hateful, harmful and racial slurs from ignorant people who believe that being “great again” means going back to the “good old days” of hating anyone who is not white; then I say we need to just stay the way we were before the world was subjected to the whims and reckless behavior of our current president. 

According to our president, he has accomplished “more than almost any administration in the history of our country,” and I agree with that statement. He has brought back hatred, chauvinistic irrational beliefs that white people are superior to all other races. Since he has been in office there has been an increase in mass shootings and attacks on religious groups and people. Since he has been in office, we have seen him stand by and campaign for people who have been accused of sexual immorality. We have seen an increase in fear that medical insurance will be canceled, or not given at all due to the president wanting to destroy and eliminate anything that the preceding “Black” administration put in place. 

We have seen babies and children separated from their parents while the president figures out how to remove them and their parents from the United States. And, at the time of this writing, we have seen major companies, like GM, making plans to lay off thousands of people and closing plants that our president “promised” during his campaign for office to bring back to America to make us “great again.”  And of course, we’ve seen great tax breaks, for corporations, while the working man still suffers. 

“Great” as an adjective means an amount, or intensity considerable above the normal or average. Great means very large and imposing. It’s a title denoting the most important person of the name. It’s very good or satisfactory; excellent. It denotes the element of something that is the most important or the worthiest of consideration. It’s used to express surprise, admiration or contempt, especially in exclamations. 

So, in conclusion, I guess the president has shown greatness. He’s shown that he is very imposing, that he thinks he is the most important person in the nation and that the only consideration that he has is to make himself seem important, all knowing and “the boss.” He has shown his contempt for anything and anyone who is not white, rich and willing to admire him and agree with anything that he says, no matter how idiotic he sounds. What will make America “great again?” Seeing the end of his presidential term.