In this more than bizarre presidential election process, such as we haven't seen in a very long time, we often hear a statement made about "Making America great again" or "We need to restore America's greatness." Trump, in particular, is obsessed with that objective and claims he knows exactly how to make it happen.
Well, it's easy to talk about restoring this country's greatness. Yes, that's an important and admirable objective and it most certainly can be achieved; but it cannot unless America experiences a political revolution in which the vast majority of its people, led by new fearless leaders, rise up, demand dramatic changes in this government and its policies, and absolutely refuse to take no for an answer.
Bernie Sanders is often criticized for promoting revolutionary ideas which the Establishment dismisses as impractical. He knows that it will take a political revolution to make them a reality; that, without one, these and other key initiatives will never materialize.
America cannot restore its greatness until it breaks the massive control that Corporate America has on this government and this country's election process. Massive amounts of corporate money continue to flow into the Congress. This "dirty money" is contaminating that highly ineffective legislative body and making its members no more than political serfs employed by the masters of Corporatism.
A country is worthy of being called great when it has a government in which its president and Congress refuse to go to war unless there is absolutely no other alternative; one that no longer uses it military to intimidate and dominate other nations who refuse to bend to its dictates; one that replaces embedded war hawks with stable, rational-minded individuals. A great nation and government does not conduct an endless, fabricated War on Terror.
Greatness is present when a country's government establishes an atmosphere of trust of its citizens and does not allow various intelligence agencies to listen in and record their communications, thereby violating their Constitutional rights of privacy; when that government is transparent and does not act in complete secrecy; when it honors the rights of free speech and does not condemn whistleblowers for exposing serious government abuses.
Great nations and governments have leaders with a vision for the future and make plans and set priorities designed to address and solve the country's problems and strengthen its foundations. That kind of government would put job creation at the very top of its priorities and work closely with the business sector to find the ways and means to restore its manufacturing sector and its workforce.
Can a nation claim that distinction of greatness when it does not have a universal health care system and many millions of its people don't have medical coverage? America, in fact, does not have one health care system but, rather, five separate systems; private health insurance, Medicare, Medicaid, Obamacare and the Veterans Administration system. They are not coordinated and are all very costly and plagued by substantial waste and abuses. And even with this disjointed system we keep hearing that this country cannot afford a single payer system to cover all Americans. That's shallow, misguided thinking.
A great nation's leaders would understand that they must begin the process of reducing the nation's large dependence on petroleum and make the development of solar power and other new sources of energy a top priority.
Speaking of solar power, why are Germany and China leading the world in its development? Well, it's because their governments do not allow powerful petroleum companies to dictate the energy policy of their countries, as is the case in America; their governments have made this a very high priority because their visionary leaders know that this will reap great dividends in the future.
China is the world's leading manufacturer of a wide variety of products; Germany also has a very strong manufacturing sector. Why have they both passed the U.S.in this endeavor? Well, unlike the U.S. government, which has allowed corporations to dismantle its manufacturing sector, their governments realize that their countries cannot remain strong and stable without a thriving manufacturing base and a skilled workforce.
These two countries are advancing and moving forward into the future while America is stuck in neutral because of its corporate-controlled government.
Without such a revolution Wall Street will continue to come up with more schemes and scams by which to fleece the American people. The stock market will continue to resemble a Las Vegas gambling casino. And the next time the banksters get into a massive financial mess our government will bail them out; and guess whose money it will use?
Without this revolution America will continue to head into the future with an unknown final destination. The nation's economy will continue to be lifeless and stagnant, because the massive consumer power that once fueled it has now been largely diluted after the American worker was thrown under the bus.
A great country would not continue to enter into trade agreements such as NAFTA, CAFTA, and the currently proposed TPP and TTIP agreements which do great things for the Corporatists but continue to decimate the American workforce. It would not have a president like Mr. Obama who strongly pursues these corporate trade agreements under a cloud of secrecy so that its many anti-U.S. worker provisions can't be seen so they will not be subject to objections by the Congress and the American people.
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