by Ghassan Kadi

The more than pre-ballot, mail service-election and fifty-fifty post-inauguration promises that President Trump breaks, the harder he makes it for himself to "Make America Great once more". But this narrative herein is not based on the political rhetoric and cleaved promises, rather, information technology is about a hypothetical scenario that questions if America is realistically able to bring Trump's slogan to fruition.

"Make America Not bad Again" is a catch phrase that implies a restoration process of a bygone station of greatness. So before one explores the chances of success of such an ambition, 1 ought to go dorsum to the basics of how and when America was great in the first identify.

Admittedly, America has historically been a country of dreams for many. The pop culture of the 1960'southward has even had songs virtually wanting to live in America and surfing U.s.a.. The dream has been realistic and fathomable, especially for Europeans who wanted to seek a better life, and thus the menstruum of migration began as soon as settlement began, and that flow was later mirrored by the balance of the globe, and it did not stop equally yet.

Only historically too, America was never a dream for its native people; quite the contrary. The influx of white migrants into America has resulted in one of the greatest, bloodiest and definitely the longest lasting genocides that spanned for over four whole centuries.

As for the young African men and women, even boys and girls, who were raided and stolen from their tribes and villages, taken away from their parents, loved ones and friends, to be sold and traded equally slaves, put to difficult labour, raped and killed, at that place was nothing for them to dream for at all in regard to America.

A dream for some and a nightmare for others, information technology would be hard to say that defining America as a dream has ever been a description that has been ubiquitously endorsed during its early-mid stages of nation-edifice. Did the global consensus change afterward on?

Every bit the new nation that became known as the United States of America became independent in the late eighteenth century, another century later, it suffered from a vicious ceremonious war and the new nation was not actually able to stand on its feet and have its place on the global scene until the wedlock was saved and Lincoln managed to pass his xiiith amendment.

As a issue, America prospered, and after on, late in the nineteenth century, America became the biggest global economy, and in retrospect, the few decades that followed up until WWI, America came the closest ever to being cracking at different levels. President Woodrow Wilson fabricated information technology clear that the USA did not join the war for any gain of territory or to build an empire. He was instrumental in setting up the "League of Nations", the predecessor of the United nations.

All the while ignoring that the 13thursday subpoena did non finish racial segregation and we shouldn't, ignoring that racial inequality persisted and we also shouldn't, was this short period, the few decades spanned in between the presidencies of Lincoln and Truman enough to classify America every bit a great nation?

To answer this properly, we must define greatness from a humane perspective. After all, if we allow ourselves to base greatness on wealth, we will have to have that the Rothschilds, the Soroses and the Rockefellers are the greatest people on globe, but are they? Who is a greater person George Soros or Jonas Salk who invented the anti-polio Salk vaccine and donated it to the earth and refused to take any royalties?

The existent greatness of people and nations ought to exist gauged by their contribution to humanity, easing its pain, spreading cognition, spearheading liberation and enlightenment, and non by their wealth.

Or is greatness a field of study of might? The post-WWII era in which America was elevated to the level of the earth's first nuclear ability and most powerful nation, has left behind a legacy of wars that began in Korea and went on unstopped to Syria and counting, and has left a trail of destruction, tens of millions of civilians killed, mostly from impoverished developing countries. Economies were destroyed, infrastructures decimated, which again begs the question, how and when exactly was America ever swell?

Whilst America did offer great opportunity for a great number of select people for a great number of years, based on the proper and relevant criteria of greatness, it can exist fair to say that America was never actually great.

Surely, many people were attracted to America to go and live there and partake in the big "American Dream", exist able to buy a Chevy, buy a house in the suburbs and send their kids to the best schools and universities in the world, all the while have the best doctors and hospitals at their beck and call. Just in reality, what is the percentage of Americans who were able to beget those luxuries fifty-fifty during the years of economical boom?

Whilst it might be truthful to say that in the 1950's – 1970'due south or so, America might have had a living standard that was higher than most other nations, the standard is shrinking at an alarming rate. With nearly l million Americans currently on food stamps, it becomes imperative to realize that today'due south USA is a land that is wrought with poverty.

Simply poverty is not America's only electric current problem, and when Trump claims that he wants to" Make America Great Again", assuming he means it, one wonders if he is simply talking near rebuilding America'due south financial prowess.

So if Trump's take on greatness stops with money, how far can the all-time e'er financial reform process get? Non that at that place is whatsoever sign of it coming from the Trump administration, not that nosotros can see that he is keeping his give-and-take by putting America first and stopping all wars, but we must remember that we are looking at a hypothetical state of affairs here, i that has zip to do with Trump.

In other words, is America able to become great once more if Trump was indeed serious about his promise?

The formal and declared American debt stands at nearly $twenty trillion dollars, and if calculated on a per capita basis, the figure amounts to $threescore,000 per every man, woman, and child. But this debt is the tip of the iceberg. With collapsing infrastructure similar roads, dams, river levees, schools, airports etc, the restoration of those public facilities constitutes overhead costs that are non budgeted for. They are simply ignored and immune to disuse and rot. These are referred to as "unfunded liabilities".

It is hard to put an accurate figure on the value of those unfunded liabilities and the estimates vary greatly from a low of $150 trillion to a high of $350 trillion. At the higher guess effigy, the individual debt balloons to nearly $ix million, again, for every man, woman and child. Just even at the lower end, the per capita figure is shyly brusk of $4 meg.

When nosotros make rest sheets we have to look not only at liabilities, but too at assets. The estimate of America's total avails is another elastic figure that also varies from $300 to $550 trillion. That said, if the liabilities figure is indeed in the vicinity of the high $350 trillion figure and that of assets is in the vicinity of the low $300 trillion, then America could well and truly be literally insolvent.

We must remember hither that fifty-fifty if the loftier $550 trillion effigy is the right effigy of avails, it does not truly mean much because much of the sub-estimates are based on untapped natural and human resources and are based on today's value of commodities that can easily crash.

Apart from fabric assets, there was a time when people effectually the earth talked about "the latest thing from America". America was the world middle of research and development and innovation in all fields of science and technology, merely today's America does not produce plenty engineers, doctors and scientists who can bear the load of a techno-fiscal revolution that can take America out of the trouble it is facing. When we look today at developments such as China's massive ultra-fast railway, nosotros tin can foresee that we are not far from talking nigh "the latest thing from Mainland china".

On the other mitt, the slick, "depression budget", and highly advanced Russian military technology has given America a run for its money. The Russians have been playing their game very smartly, exposing the Americans to a sense of taste of what's upward their sleeve, and –God forbid- in the result of a major escalation between the two super powers, America may observe itself with bases and fleets exposed equally sitting ducks facing an invisible enemy. It is highly likely that the Russians are not trying to "testify off"; every bit information technology were, simply they are sending strong and clear messages of deterrence to their "American partners".

Back to economic system, it seems likely, equally a matter of fact we can safely say that information technology is highly probable that the demise of the American economy has gone as well far and beyond repair. It is besides possible that Trump has come to this realization after his inauguration, and that after reaching this realization, he made his U-turn on his promises on the basis that all he has left up his sleeve is a stash of nukes and a mighty state of war motorcar.

To reconsider the definition of greatness, does President Trump believe that might alone brings greatness and that past escalating the global bullying role of the United States of America he is going to "Make America Great Once more"?

America is certainly a nation that has the highest military machine budget, largest navy and more off-shore military basis than the rest of the earth combined, information technology has had the globe'due south biggest economic system for many decades and continues to enjoy this condition, but has never been a smashing nation that has spread knowledge and wisdom to the rest of the earth. It has used its military machine might in the past to pillage poor countries and its current financial woes are literally impossible to resolve.

Merely when it comes to military matters, what is pertinent is that most, if not all, American military ventures accept failed to achieve their objectives. After reaching a stale-mate in Korea, a total defeat in Vietnam, after two decades into the wars on Afghanistan and Iraq, America is still incapable of gaining the upper hand on the ground.

Then if the military machine is the merely trump card left up Trump's sleeve in social club to "Make America Keen Once more", on what grounds is he basing his assumption that he can confront and subdue Russian federation and Mainland china combined given that the 125,000 stiff American ground forces that invaded Republic of iraq in 2003 was non even able to control the streets of Baghdad?

Ironically, Obama and Trump have both won their campaigns using slogans that are based on desperation; from "Yes We Can" to "Make America Great Again", the slogans were effectively used to lure in voters who cognize that America is in deep trouble and needs a saviour. Obama has failed and left America with twice the official debt that he inherited on his inauguration day, and Trump will not be able to do much, considering like a rusty one-time car, America is too far gone, and I feel sorry for the good people of America, and there are many of them, including some very good and dear personal friends.

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