What makes America great?

What makes America great?

A quarter of a million people wanting to come to our country every month, willing to leave family and friends behind, everything they have known for their entire lives to make a better life for themselves and for their children.  People who often work 2-3 jobs to support themselves and their families, often getting paid under the table, unable to collect social security or other benefits because they are outside the system, but they know their children will be better here than where they came.  Those children of immigrants are motivated to get ahead, to make better lives for themselves too, not willing to complain about the cards they were dealt or blame others for their misfortune. That desire of people to be here and make their mark here, is what makes us great.

It's 51% of our population being able to get modern healthcare as they need as determined between their doctor and themselves, without government interference.  The United States is supposed to be a free country, where we are allowed to make medical decisions based upon our needs and our beliefs, not those of others forcing their beliefs into our hospitals and bedrooms. There is a reason puritans left England to find freedom on these shores and that very freedom is what makes us great.

It's believing that everyone, including elected officials, are accountable to the rule of law, that we hold all citizens to the same set of standards, that there is not one set of rules for the elite (politicians, entertainers, rich, famous) and one set of rules for the opposition or for us peons. You do not achieve greatness by holding one party to a set of standards, without holding another party to the exact same standard. If you commit a crime, you do the time, regardless of who your daddy is, who you work for, how much you earn, how many movies you make or how much they grossed etc. It’s that all men (and women) are created equal, and that is what makes us great.

It's allowing individuals the freedom to be who they want to be and love who they want to love.  Someone else’s (gay) marriage has absolutely no impact on the sanctity of your marriage, so if you don’t want to be involved, then feel free to not participate.  However, you have no right to tell others how they should be living their life or to tell them who they should love or how they should dress or (see above) what they decide with their doctor about what medicine they can take.  Over the years different groups have fought to prove that they have the right to exist equally in our society and that evolution is what makes us great.

It's understanding that we are all one nation, indivisible, that united we stand but divided we fall.  It’s supposed to be about loving your neighbor, not believing they are your enemy just because they believe something ideologically different from you. Or maybe they believe in a different g-d than you or maybe they do not believe in g-d at all, or maybe they look different than you or speak a different language than you but that does not make them your enemy.  In fact, they love their country just as much as you do, and that should be the first step towards mutual respect and understanding.  Having empathy for your neighbor, understanding their concerns, having a conversation, and being able to talk about the problems facing each of us is what makes us great.

It’s taxing the wealthiest individuals and corporations, so their profits are invested back into the community and into the corporations themselves.  When we had infrastructure that was not falling apart, when we had brand new schools, new roads, new bridges, and we were sending men to the moon, the tax rate was 70%.  Corporations reinvested their earnings into themselves, rewarding their employees, inventing new products which allowed us to go to the moon. When profits are reinvested in the corporation it multiplies and does trickle down so that all employees benefit from the rising tide.  When those profits are not reinvested but rather paid out in dividends and stock buybacks it only finds itself in fewer, larger pockets and not distributed to all those on the boat. It’s that willingness to understand that we are part of a larger community bonded together to make our companies, our neighborhoods, our city, state and nation a better place that makes us great.