Great … AGAIN?
I left the United States to live in England in 2003. Virgin Atlantic Airlines gave me a free first class upgrade as a gesture of bonhomie on the day I left. So on the flight over I happened to find myself sitting next to an executive from the History Channel. It turned out that she was English and had recently moved from England to live in the United States. So you might say we were crossing national identities even as we crossed paths and crossed an ocean, she on a temporary visit to relatives, me to stay.
As politely as she could she told me she thought what I was doing was absurd. America, she insisted, had it all over Britain. America was for winners, Britain was for losers. I didn’t remind her that the History Channel had become pretty absurd itself. It had recently descended from a proper channel about actual history to a promoter of rubbish and conspiracy theories. So who was she to judge such things? Instead I asked her, what’s so great about America?
The short answer is: nothing. From the time we were small children we were lied to. Not intentionally. For the most part the people who insisted that America was the greatest country on earth were lied to as well. They were just passing on what they honestly believed to be true. But nobody ever told us exactly why America was so great. It was because they couldn’t.
America is often vaunted for its freedoms. The lyric to the song “I’m proud to be an American” continues with “where at least I know I’m free.” That’s practically a giveaway, a concession that America isn’t all that great after all, because there are plenty of countries in the world that are equally free. Britain is one of them. Even the tired cliche that America is the “cradle of democracy” isn’t true. Ancient Greece was.
What I didn’t have to endure in Britain was a for-profit healthcare system, a fascistic police force, a gun culture that made me occasionally worried about the guy tailgating me. Was he armed? America was home to a dark and bitter history of racism so toxic that it once broke the country in two. And no, we are not drowning in taxes in Britain. Taxes here are about the same as they are in the United States.
The myth of American exceptionalism is just that, a myth. America has some truly beautiful vistas, from its national parks to the Rocky Mountains to its gorgeous beaches shared between two vast oceans. But the government is pretty much like other democratic governments in other countries. And some of those countries have some pretty nice scenery as well.
One thing we don’t have in Britain is lunatics running the show. America leads the world in loonies and defense spending. Hardly a recommendation for “greatness.”
If you want to make America great, not again, but great in the first place, you’re going to have to change the way the government does business. First, you’re going to have to get rid of money in politics. It ought to be a federal crime for the richest man in the world to buy the presidency. In any sane reality Elon Musk would be sharing a prison cell with Donald Trump, not the Oval Office.
In fact, elections need to stop being about money. The government should provide equal time on TV for political candidates to say their piece and debate each other. There should be no paid TV ads. Political contributions should be seen for what they are: bribes. They should be treated accordingly, with stiff fines and long stretches in prison. It should be unlawful for anyone to financially underwrite any political candidate.
Successful candidates should divest themselves of all economic interests once elected, including businesses, stock options and emoluments. Failure to do so should result in immediate arrest and serious criminal charges. It should be illegal for someone to enter Congress a pauper and emerge a millionaire or billionaire.
If you want to make America great, pass the Equal Rights Amendment. Repeal the second amendment so there’s nothing to debate, then institute safe and sane gun laws. It’s an enduring scandal that the richest nation on earth can’t afford universal healthcare. Cut the defense budget and start providing free healthcare and cheap medicines for everyone.
If you want to make America great, make it against the law for politicians to lie about global warming and vaccines. Put the likes of Donald Trump and Robert F Kennedy jr in jail. Make political movements like MAGA, movements that promote hate, violence and the overthrow of the government, illegal.
That’s a start to making America great … in the first place. Yes, America has had a fascinating history with some truly great people, people like Abraham Lincoln and Susan B Anthony and Martin Luther King. But it needs more than great people and beautiful scenery to be truly great. It must be cured of the truly horrific disease it is dying from. America doesn’t just need to get rid of Trump and MAGA. It needs to change fundamentally.
Before she descended into her book and I into mine, my fellow first class passenger pronounced her final epitaph on Britain. “I hope you like curry.” I like it okay. I like freedom more. Paradoxically, I have a lot more of it right now than she does.
Robert Harrington is an American expat living in Britain. He is a portrait painter.