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Why America Will Never Be Great Again.

Why the American Dream never came true.

It has taken me 50 years to write this story. Let’s start at the beginning. In 1971, I was awarded a scholarship to study the American Education system at the University of Delaware. We were a group of Irish teachers who were lucky enough to visit America and be treated with such hospitality and kindness.

It was the opportunity of a lifetime. I even missed my sister’s wedding! We were hosted by the Irish Teachers’ Project which had an impressive array of American-Irish connections.

We were taken to visit Senator Ted Kennedy at Capitol Hill and also to the White House to be greeted by Mrs. Nixon. President Nixon was too busy to receive us! We also visited New York and Philadelphia.

It was a wonderful introduction to the Land of the Free and we could not but be impressed. But two incidents still stick in my memory now. They indicated that racial segregation and discrimination plus urban violence were scars on America’s skin then and still are now.

Our hosts in Philadelphia were a delightful couple who treated us royally. The wife wanted to take us out in the convertible and show us the sights. But she insisted on taking us through the black district (44% of the population) to show us the other side of America. Philly is, even today, the fourth most segregated city in the USA.

She was determined and we were not to even mention this detour to her husband when we got back! She would get into trouble, she said. I remember the tension in the car because our hostess felt she was taking risks on several levels.

The second incident happened in New York. We were strolling and I saw a man carrying a crowbar. Protest or protection? This image of somebody carrying a weapon disturbed me. Just as the protesters this week against the lockdown were carrying guns. Was this show of force really necessary in a democratic society?

“Black people get executed by police for just existing, while white people dressed like militia members carrying assault weapons are allowed to threaten State Legislators and staff.” — Rashida Tlaib, US Democrat Representative.

Back home in Ireland, my father noted that I had undergone a sea- change

“America has changed you,” he said.

As the years rolled by and I studied more of American history and politics. I wondered what made America so great. It was always held up as an example of a near-perfect democracy which was a symbol of the free world.

The more I knew, the more I doubted this label. Was America ever really that great? How come the slogan “Make America Great Again” can resonate with so many people? Perhaps George Carlin was right!

“That’s why they call it the American Dream, because you have to be asleep to believe it.” ― George Carlin

Here are 10 reasons why America was never really a model for ideals of freedom and tolerance. It will never be great unless there is a revolution on many fronts. Highly unlikely, in my opinion. Climate change or another pandemic might force change but it seems too late now.

1. America fails to acknowledge climate change and collaborate globally.

There is only one planet but America has dragged its feet on climate change. It has refused to see the writing on the wall. President Trump has pulled out of the Paris Climate Agreement, has replaced President Obama’s Clean Power Plan, and scaled back on many of the regulations which aimed at mitigating climate change. Fossil fuels are back and there is no federal plan to clean up the environment.

We’re going to have clean coal, really clean coal.” — Donald Trump, March 2017

2. America has failed to make the church-state separation a reality.

Thomas Jefferson and the Founding Fathers were very clear on how religion must be a basic freedom for every citizen. But they also wanted a “wall of separation” so that politics would never hijack religious belief.

The harsh reality is that the Christian Protestant religion has been used and abused by American public figures to serve their political ends. They will use religious issues to gain votes in such delicate areas as abortion and LGBTQ rights.

Donald Trump has used these and other concerns. He picks and chooses. His government separated mothers and children at the Mexican border. In 2018, at least 2,500 children were snatched away from their parents. None of the Christians noticed or cared!

The most absurd example is when President George Bush claimed that God had told him to go to war with Iraq.

“God told me to end the tyranny in Iraq.” — President George Bush.

America will never have an atheist president but that would be ideal as she or he could represent all Americans of all faiths or none. This would certainly lead to less prejudice and more tolerance.

3. America has failed to protect its children at school.

Imagine sending your child to school where she or he is shot dead! This is the cruel reality in the USA where gun control measures have failed and there is no plausible reform in sight. In just one year after the Parkland Florida shooting, 1,200 children were killed at school. The USA is way down the list as regards safety kids’ loss of life in car accidents and gun violence.

4. America cannot provide a fair trial for detainees at Guantanamo Bay.

Guantanamo Bay was opened in January 2002. Over 770 detainees have been kept there. In spite of President Obama’s promise that it would be closed within one year after 2009, it is still open. It has become a shameful symbol of torture and unfair detention, according to Amnesty International. Only 7 men were actually convicted and 5 of these made a guilty pleas under a pre-trial agreement. The abuse of human rights and the inability to provide a fair trial have shocked the world.

5. America still practices the death penalty in half of its states.

As you can see from this map, over 50% of American states still practice the death penalty. Capital punishment will always be a denial of basic civil liberties and this violates the constitutional ban on cruel punishment.

States must have no right to kill another human being for whatever reason and must aim for rehabilitation. This type of punishment does not even deter people from committing crimes. States with no capital punishment have significantly lower homicide rates than those where it is practiced.

“The death penalty can be tolerated only by extreme statist reactionaries who demand a state that is so powerful that it has the right to kill.” ― Noam Chomsky

6. America lags behind in gender equality.

It is shocking to discover that almost half (48%) of American companies have no sexual harassment policies in place. In 2020, women earn almost 20% less than men ( a woman makes $0.81 for every dollar a man makes.) The USA, according to the World Economic Forum only ranks around the 50th place as regards economic gender equality.

7. America has legalized abortion but….

Abortion has been legal in the USA since 1973. The only problem is that many states have introduced so many restrictions that it is often now a difficult if not impossible procedure. Many women have to surmount obstacles such as fetal heartbeat limits, state counseling, or compulsory waiting periods before they can go ahead with the operation.

In as many as 26 states, women are asked if they want to look at the mandatory ultrasound scan of the fetus and their answer is recorded. In six states, women have no choice but to look at the scan.

The battle is now warming up because it is going to be a major election issue in 2020. The prevailing attitude is that women should be punished for seeking a procedure that should be safe and legal. At the moment, it is not nor is it likely to be.

“No woman can call herself free who does not control her own body.” ― Margaret Sanger

8. America has failed to reduce racial discrimination.

The figures for racial discrimination show alarming trends. Let us look at New York City where police can stop and frisk. Only 10% of the stops were carried out on white people while 88% were on black or Latinx people in 2018. Drug use among black Americans and white people is very similar. However, black Americans are 6 times more likely to be arrested for this crime.

Ther is no escaping the fact that in the USA (and in other countries) white racial superiority seeps into cultural values and institutions for the sole purpose of belittling and subordinating minorities. There is a long way to go here.

9. America still has no universal healthcare or sick paid leave.

The only rich country in the world which has no universal healthcare. The USA ranks 28th on the UN global scale for the quality of the services it does offer.

The health insurance companies and other business which thrive on private healthcare are a powerful lobby. This combined with a terror of socialist policies plus regarding it as a too paternalistic has led to a failure of most attempts to make it more accessible for the most vulnerable. It is a complex issue but the renowned economist Paul Krugman considers it unfeasible and explains the reasons why in the article here.

10. Some American schools allow corporal punishment.

Did you know that in private schools in 48 US states, this cruel practice is still allowed? In the public school, it is still allowed in 19 states (mostly southern). This means that only 31 states have banned it which is a very small percentage for such a highly developed and rich country. If you are a male African-American disabled kid, you are much more likely to be beaten.

Ex-President Obama has some ideas of how the American dream can be reclaimed.

“I believe in evolution, scientific inquiry, and global warming; I believe in free speech, whether politically correct or politically incorrect, and I am suspicious of using government to impose anybody’s religious beliefs -including my own- on nonbelievers.” ― Barack Obama, The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream