What Will Make America Great Again

After four years of President Donald Trump’s leadership, is America great again?

That is not intended to be a partisan question.

If you have followed this blog for any length of time you know I avoid political partisanship.

My question is meant to strike at the presupposition present in the promise that any political leader will make America great again.

When Benjamin Franklin was leaving the Constitutional Convention, a man on the street asked him, “Dr. Franklin, what kind of government have you given us?”

Franklin responded, “A republic, if you can keep it.”

About 50 years later, Alexis DeTocqueville, a French historian and political scientist came to America to study the new republic and what had made it so successful. His conclusion ended up in a book, Democracy in America. DeTocqueville concluded, “America is great because America is good, and when America ceases to be good, she will cease to be great.”

So, why do we continue to put so much hope in political leaders? I think it is because they can bring immediate change if it not substantive change. Taxes go up or taxes go down. New regulations are passed or existing ones eliminated. This has an effect on the economy and people’s bank accounts, but it doesn’t change people.

Lower taxes and less regulation don’t make people better people; they don’t even give people a better opportunity for being better people. Some would argue it even does the opposite. This is why I continue to observe politics with an engaged indifference. I watch with interest, sometimes with amusement, but I don’t get worked up one way or the other.

When Americans learn how to stay married and faithful to their spouses, American will be great again. When Americans learn to live within their means instead of financing their lifestyles with credit cards and borrowed money, America will be great again. When racism and abortion are as much a part of our past as bloodletting, America will be great again.

And here’s the thing, I don’t see Donald Trump or Joe Biden changing any of that in Americans. As a result, I will continue support King Jesus and His administration. GS

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