Since the founding of the American republic nearly two and half centuries ago the outcome of this year’s presidential election is going to be one of the most significant.
by Osita Ebiem
The 2020 American presidential election has elicited a great national discuss which borders on the raison d’etre of the country itself. It turns out that the consequences of the outcome of this election are bound to outlast November 3, 2020. It is because of the importance of the outcome of this election that I feel obligated to contribute to the discussion. My ethnicity is Igbo and Igbo people are basically conservative. Though the Igbo are adventurous and outgoing but they are also fiercely nationalistic (they will give anything to defend Igbo land.) So it is easy for them to identify with patriotic Americans today at this time that the country seems to be at a moral crossroads. Igbo conservative values make it easy for them to take positions when it comes to any great moral question such the ongoing American national debate. The early twentieth century American Catholic Bishop Fulton Sheen could not have said it better when he said that; “The refusal to take sides on great moral issues is itself a decision. It is a silent acquiescence to evil.” He still went on to say that; “The tragedy of our time is that those who still believe in honesty lack fire and conviction, while those who believe in dishonesty are full of passionate conviction.” These statements by the bishop are so relevant today in America’s public space.
Since the founding of the American republic nearly two and half centuries ago the outcome of this year’s presidential election is going to be one of the most significant. Apparently what is at stake is the very essence of America; that is the founding values of the United States of America. The price is huge and it is not a time for anyone to sit on the fence and say or do nothing. It is time for all lovers of this country to get involved. But it is not enough to choose sides and you must not only follow your heart, you must go a step further to find out and stand with the side that will fight to preserve and defend what America stands for. For your participation and vote to worth the while this November it is important to get well informed. This is not the time to follow the mob instead let your decision be based on personal honest and dispassionate convictions that are reached through the knowledge of what is true.
America succeeded mostly due to the genius of its founding principles. But among those principles it is doubtless that America’s capitalist market ideals and freedoms contributed the most to this success. In the 1950s and 1960s, especially starting from the years of the Republican President Dwight Eisenhower the United States which made up only about 5% of the world’s population produced more than half of the world’s manufactured goods. The lesson here is that societies succeed when they combine sound national economic ideals without the encumbrances of overreaching government bureaucracy, and a nationalistic leadership that takes seriously the idea of love for the country and is sincere enough to inspire a lot of patriotic fire in the nation’s citizens. Another important lesson from history which we cannot miss here is that great national leaders are not always great politicians. Just like Eisenhower who was more of a military leader than an orthodox politician so is Trump today more of a businessman than a mainstream politician. The United States became the world’s greatest production powerhouse not through orthodox sleek political talking but through honest and sincere creative leadership, the will to act and the ability to inspire in the ordinary citizens the need to believe in themselves and to love their country.
The 50s and 60s were America’s roaring and glorious days. Yes, for some who are still skeptical, there was a time when America was indeed great. But with the passage of the years America began to gradually lose its grit to the extent that some of its misguided leaders began to eye some fantastical socialistic non-capitalist market ideals. And they actually began to call for the total elimination of institutions that maintain the society’s law and order. But as the voice of unreason got louder so was the nostalgic feeling and yearning of those patriots who understand the dangers which such an un-American alternative poses for the country and its people. It is such that true American patriots today are calling for an urgent return of America to its former glorious days of great accomplishments and national pride.
Through their campaign slogan the current Republican American President Donald Trump and his campaign team seem to have captured and embodied this American people’s collective longing for the good old days of America. As such Americans are gradually coming to terms with the effectiveness of the Trumpian style of leadership which has renewed in the citizens a new sense of optimism and confidence in the country. A majority of Americans are once again starting to believe again in the ideals of the country. Hope is once again being restored and there is a general feeling that with a little bit of more patriotic leadership even if unorthodox, that America will become even greater still.
The Trumpian campaign refrain or slogan to; “Make America Great Again” is founded on the historical fact that America was great and needs to be restored. It is also based on the yearning and aspiration of patriotic Americans and lovers of America. This Trumpian political idea is based on the fact of American history so the detractors may as well try and get used to it as it is not going away anytime soon. The idea is not just a mere political gimmick or a fad that will fade away anytime soon. Instead my prediction is that after this administration the idea will continue to win in the foreseeable future for any savvy American politician who will like to cash in on its resonance in history if he or she will be ready to give it all and the best there is. The understanding of this fact will help clear the minds of those who have wondered constantly why the slogan has resonated so deeply with many patriots and lovers of the United States of America. The idea of restoring America’s glorious days resonates with the people today because many people are convinced that some past American leaders had either inadvertently or deliberately pushed the country to the edge of the precipice as it is.
The cry by Trump’s campaign that they want to make America great again continues to find large audiences and a great following because as many readers will agree, over the years America’s greatness actually began to slip through the fingers of its career politicians and business leaders. Due to many false steps and poor decisions by its politicians America became a beached fish, washed up and panting for breath. America’s political and business leaders beached America as they toyed with and tossed the American mystic and prestige to American state enemy swine. Within living memory of many generations of Americans, past American administrations became careless and took the American country for granted. At first the slips were happening in sputters here and there and then the bars were removed and the sludge came in torrents, threatening to drown out all the grandeurs and beauties of the United States. To the dismay of many patriots America was rapidly turning into the mythological Augean stable.
An example is that soon American negotiators and leaders in politics and business began to recklessly concede more and more ridiculous grounds in every deal and agreement until it almost became a complete sale out of the American dream and country. In no time America was belonging to no one, and any soiled and sacrilegious hand could fondle the beautiful bride. America had become ditched by those who should protect, love and cherish her. And like a naïve and inexperienced rich street worker anyone could have a piece of America. Increasingly America lost at every negotiation table and was always dealt with the short end of the stick. The downward slide gained speed with every new deal that subsequent administrations went into and for many watchers the American ship was not too far from the edge of the precipice.
Gradually these less patriotic gladiators of American politics and business seemed to have killed off the guardians of American soul and, the American state became an orphaned republic and the responsibility of no one. Soon there was a widespread belief that protective borders, laws, rules and standards were no longer necessary. The enforcers of the national will could be disbanded as national orderliness had become a burden. America was now up for sale. And no one dared to defend the United States of America. As it became an all-comers republic. America became an all-comer’s game where anyone could come to play. There was this overt invitation that even those who do not know or believe in the rule of the game (what America stands for) could come to play. The rule of the game is that there are no rules. All players are allowed to make their own private rules and play by them. It doesn’t matter because all the umpires have been sent off the field. It was made clear that now any player is allowed to stand, sit or kneel to play this new and twisted American game. The concept of right and wrong in the nation’s psyche became warped. And it was projected that by the time the game is over everyone will be a winner except the United States of America and her true patriotic citizens.
Domestic enemies of the state shouted the loudest calling for the dismantling of the very fabrics of the American state. The systemic vetting process of the American political class was being rattled and attacked from all sides. As this call to kill the systemic standards of the U. S. gained more ground the very dangerous proverbial tyranny or oppression of the masses was also gaining ground. The now ungrateful and biggest beneficiaries of the standard American system would rather that the country is burned down to the ground if they would no longer be allowed to create America into an unrecognizable and un-American image. They unleashed on America a dumbed down and clueless fringe masses for whom beauty and art and historical monuments are eyesores. In their mad pursuit for power for its sake these internal enemies of the republic insist that a vast majority of the dumb masses should now have the prerogative to select and elect those who appeal to their undiscerning sentiments instead of those who represent the true rational American state. So, it became easy for some of these classless and reckless Washingtonian lifetime career politicians to shamelessly call for the abandonment of the age old and time-tested and trusted Electoral College of the American political institution.
These supposedly custodians and indeed beneficiaries of the American dream became convinced in the exaggeration of their personal clout and in their private belief that America was just like any other nation on Earth and that America was not special after all. Like a neglected garden abandoned by its paid caretakers America the beautiful became overgrown with the weed of fantasy mongers. America was losing in every known beauty pageant halls. America’s once well-manicured and properly kept beautiful and enviable first place garden in the world was being eroded before the eyes of many dismayed patriots and friends alike. It was at this point that it became clear to all that for America to continue in the competition then it must have her hero that this moment demands. Everyone got convinced that the American nation must have her national knight in shining armor, an unabashed national makeup artist. At this critical point the country needs an American knight that understands that for America to remain competitive and the best she must be remodeled and all her negotiating instruments retooled to fit the current realities of this twenty first century world. Today, many watchers believe that Trump and his administration fit the mold of this much needed American hero.
As we go on with this discussion it may be necessary to point out that this unfortunate predicament of America hovering at the brink as we described earlier did not come as a surprise to many social observers. It has always been clear to all students of history that once any society loses or begins to fail to appreciate and embrace their identity or maybe become ashamed of who they are, then they are headed for a fall. The truth is that it is the sum total of a people’s past that is responsible for whatever greatness or otherwise there is in their present. Therefore, whatever beauty and excellence that all, including the undiscriminating critics have come to enjoy in America today came directly from what the Americans had been and done in the past. It is therefore immoral to accept and enjoy the benefits and prestige of these America’s historical national credits while rejecting the patriarchs who worked so tirelessly to accumulate these credits. And once a people begin to apologize for and abdicate their self-identity then they will become indecisive and unsure of their present self and their destiny. Therefore, it goes without saying that for America to become great again America and Americans must recover their national identity and learn to once again become self-confident by recovering their lost faith in the sufficiency of the American national identity.
Every American must come to the realization that as a people, their country occupying the first position in the world was not by accident. Americans must become aware that being the world’s greatest productive and economic powerhouse was justifiably earned because the people worked for it. It is incontestable that the goods and services that were made in America were good and of superior quality. American products were great because they were manufactured with honesty while applying the highest of standards. For several years through dint of hard work, sound economic and political planning and innovative management and unparalleled high sense of patriotism America achieved the kind of greatness that the world had never seen before. She became rich, powerful and at the same time benevolent and incomparably generous. America became the City on the Hill, the desire and attraction of all people everywhere. People worked hard to make America become the model of what every society and country should be. Because Americans worked, the United States of America helped to change the world for the better. Through America’s wealth and generosity the rest of the world became richer, humane and more accountable.
America became great not through mere luck but most of all through good thinking which is what produced its framework of existence, the American constitution. So far the people have honestly worked hard to protect and to preserve this constitution. They accepted with time to make amends to further expand its scope and enable it to accomplish greater good for the greater number of its citizens. It is therefore right that at this crossroads of a national moral crisis that the country and her people must renew their faith in the country’s Judeo-Christian founding principles which has helped to shape the American Republic. The American principles cannot be as wrong as some of the detractors are projecting otherwise they would not have produced the greatest national success story of all time.
As we round up this discussion we have to stress that the outcome of the upcoming November presidential election in the United States will be pivotal and perhaps the most important since the last 150 years. This will be the election for the very essence of America. The United States will rise or fall based on the outcome of this election. The reason why is because a nation rises or falls based on how the people choose to see themselves. A people’s culture or way of life is all they have and they cannot afford to toss and trample on it. A people’s culture or way of life is what makes or mars their nation. The outcome of this November presidential election will show the direction to which the American people have chosen for their country. It will be a choice between continuing to take the country on the path to greatness or a reversal to retrogression and death.
At this point true American patriots must avoid the temptation of pursuing power by all means. For the country it is dangerous and for the power grabbers it is dishonorable. Sometimes, it is the difference between a successful and prosperous country and the so-called third world countries. The primary purpose of every social and political power should be to serve and do good for the people within the jurisdiction of those powers. When powers are sought and held for reasons different from those they become corrupted and debased. What is worse is that it reduces those individuals who possess the power to the level of the dishonorable.
That this national conversation has persisted for so long in the direction to which it is proceeding explains unfortunately, how far gone in the road that leads to nowhere that the negative forces have dragged America. These forces are out to erase the well-recognized American image and replace it with something very different and far removed from what everyone knows as America. But all hope is not lost, collectively the discerning and collective Americans can still choose to save the country from further descent to the brink of a third world abyss.
Right from the onset many discerning Americans have always been convinced that the Wuhan Virus or as the President calls it, the Chinese Virus may not have been too far from another contrived arsenal in the repertoire of a presidential impeaching mob. But whatever it might be it is the argument of this writer that at this point the nation must choose to come together. For the sake of country let’s swallow our personal pride and choose to unite to save and preserve this great country as the last bastion of liberty, light and freedom on Earth. Let all Americans, both the dissenting and assenting patriots come to terms with the truth and reality of this moment. For the sake of these United States we as a nation must come together now and elect a leader that has the capacity and will to restore America to its former glory and pride. For the love of country let’s leave partisanship aside and choose to make America great again.
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