Masks and Madness
The ones that most zealously believe we are great are the ones who do the least to contribute to the greatness.
America is indeed great. In some ways.
We've welcomed people from around the world to come here and chase the American Dream. The ineffable ideal by which any outcome is available to anybody who works hard enough. Anybody can become American, and quickly - a stark contrast with some of our progressive European peers.
And we think big. We put people on the moon. We invented the Internet. We put smartphones in billions of hands. We have national parks. We make movies.
When my parents were refugees, America was not only the most welcoming - Canada and Australia had points based systems for professions and rejected families with too many elderly - it was THE choice for building a great life. My parents qualified for the other countries but to them there was an obvious choice.
Chanting MAGA and waving a flag does absolutely nothing to make our country great. Rather than advancing our diversity, our freedoms, and our achievements in science/tech the zealots want closed borders and false promises of the same handouts they claim to hate - just marketed differently.
Tone down the ardor. Put down the flag. It's your responsibility to make America great. Do something to help your neighbor. Do something to change the world.
