What does America first really mean?

"Even if we get another Trump like President in 2024, Ms. Nancy and the socialists will never agree with the program. They are millstones around the neck of those who advocate growth and change."

MAGA. American Exceptionalism. Put America first. To the left, these expressions are nothing but nationalism. To conservatives, they make sense. Does that mean that America "goes it alone" on everything? Not a bit. America is the world leader, the strongest superpower. But even with that America is still part of the team. And this team consists of over 7 billion people, who all need goods and services we could provide.

As most of us know, the American cities of today look nothing like the American cities of the 1950's. That decade was the heyday of the American dream. World War II was over, and soldiers once again became office workers, laborers, and service providers. Cities like Detroit and Chicago, were great places to live and work. Our cities thrived, and they were the envy of the world. Then came the 1960's. And with the 1960's, came 1968. That is when the wheels started to fall off.

That brings us to today. Fast forward from 1968 to 2021. Most of our large cities are poverty traps. Hollowed out, crime infested ghettos. Widespread industry, like we had in Detroit in the 1950's, is all but gone. We have ceded much of our manufacturing to cheaper labor overseas. Our trade deficit is astoundingly high. The last time we had a trade surplus (albeit a tiny one), was 1975. We have been in the red ever since. How red? In 2020, our trade deficit was $677.7 billion. In that number, are many jobs which could have been done by Americans.

Donald Trump had a vision on how to restore America to the greatness it once had. For reasons which are foreign to me, many on the left hated that vision. "White Nationalism", they called it. Nothing could be further from the truth. This country at its core, still has the right stuff. We can recapture our greatness. Part of that greatness would be to bring some of our manufacturing back to this country. Make things better. Also, make our business climate so attractive, that companies from other countries would want to move operations to our shores. 

Take a look around right now. How is that vision of America looking? I won't go into all the crisis points which have been created in the past 8 months. I will however, note how changing our tax structure will blunt the projected growth Donald Trump envisioned. Like, the $3.5T giveaway bill, could drag us down from greatness, into a recession or depression.

Will we ever want to make America great again? Not unless we have that common vision. What we saw in the term of 2016 to 2020, we know what that answer was. Even if we get another "Trump like" President in 2024, Ms. Nancy and the socialists will never agree with the program. They are millstones around the neck of those who advocate growth and change. Why is that? That is the question which vexes many of the citizens and patriots today.