let us try a different tack……
let us state, He is an American.
now, what choices are supposed to be available for an American?
and how do these choices suppose, supposed to making an American
a “superior” possibility?
the one choice that is available for an American is to vote…
but, we have the GOP trying and succeeding to voter suppression…
we have massive gerrymandering that makes voting unimportant…
we have admitted GOP attempts to influence the census to
change voting to favor them…we have massive GOP attempts
to misdirect voters into failing to vote or to vote on the wrong days,
we have the collective attempts between Russia and the GOP to
change and influence people via social media…
and in the midst of all this voter fraud and intimidation,
what are the choices to vote does one have when there are massive
voter fraud schemes against the average American voter?
so, what other “choices” do we have as Americans?
We are supposedly the greatest country on earth and yet,
we have massive income inequality in which 40 people owe
as much wealth as 3.5 billion human beings……
income inequality isn’t a sign of greatness, having people who
must work 3 jobs to survive isn’t a sign of greatness,
Walmart paying people such low wages that they must go on
government programs like WIC and EBT… at work, in my very
large grocery chain, we have workers who are so poorly paid,
that they must use EBT, food stamps, to survive……
please feel free to describe how that is American greatness?
the base of Maslow hierarchy, is the basic level of human needs,
food, clean water, warmth, shelter, clothing… how is denying
that basic level of human needs, a sign of greatness?
as a liberal, I have included education and health care as part
of the basic needs of all human beings… as the politicians
like to point out, all American’s have access to health care,
but what access means is, you have access if you can pay for it…
a few years ago, I was force to have part of my colon removed,
over a 4 month period, I spent a total of a month in the hospital,
at a week at a time, the total cost of the entire procedure was
roughly 360,000 including a one week stay that cost over 120,000 dollars…
I could have spent a week in Hawaii in the most luxurious hotel
eating in 4 star restaurants every night and still have spent less money
then that one week in a hospital…
I had insurance for this, but insurance only pays 80% and thus our portion was
20% of the total, so our portion of the bill was 72,000 dollars…
can you afford to shell out 72,000 dollars for medical costs?
how is that cost, which every year bankrupts millions of Americans,
part of American greatness? Part of American’s choice?
What other choices do we specifically have as American’s?
well in many states, the choice of having an abortion is dropping.
several states are down to just a couple of providers for abortions…
that choice, that distinctly American value of choice, how is that
found in regards to the choice for an abortion? if we limit or end
the choice of abortion, then how does choice become an
American value?
if one argues, by ending choice, ending abortion, we save the lives of
the unborn, we are pro-life… but pro-life ends at birth, we see this
everyday, when we reduce aid to mothers and their children…
that moral document called the Budget, every year we reduce our
assistance to families and children and senior citizens…
we cannot call ourselves pro-choice if we prevent families
from feeding their children… if we prevent families from
engaging in the basic function of the family which is to
meet the needs of children, to meet the basic needs of human beings
in regards to Maslow’s hierarchy… if we fail to help families
feed or clothe or shelter or educate or to give proper health care,
then we are not pro-life… we are only pro-life as long as the possibility
exists for the unborn, but not for the born… once born, you are on your own…
and that is not pro-life……
so the GOP is actively engage in reducing the choices of American’s…
in health care, in education, in feeding families, in voter rights,
in clean water… so how does being an American suggest that
we somehow have greater choices when we clearly don’t have
the choices we had 10 or even 5 years ago?
I am old, I have seen how America increased the choices in voting
and in health care and education during the 1950’s, 1960’s and 1970’s,
but the war of the GOP has been on reducing those choices, the cultural
wars of the last 50 years has been also a war on American’s choices…
at every step, reducing the choices American’s have…
how does that suggest or imply that being an American
as being part of the greatest country on earth?
we have made choice as one of the highest attributes of being American
and yet, we have spent the last 50 years reducing the average American’s choices…
is the greatness of America really reduced to how many cereals are on the supermarket
shelf or how many different types of cars we can buy?
and even then, at the GOP likes to say, we have access to, but that just
means we can have access to if we can pay for it… so we have our beloved
access to the many diverse and different material goods offered by American
capitalist… if we can afford it………
so, the vaunted distinct American greatness of choice is really just a lie…
because greatness has never been about or found with one’s choice of a material
object… in other words, we don’t think of greatness in terms of buying something…
Lincoln wasn’t great because he could buy something like a new carriage…or a
new couch…or as IQ45 suggested, when George Washington could buy a new
airplane…….greatness is a function of how values are put to use…
and values cannot be bought or sold or traded…
Lincoln was great because of the values he held and
all great human beings are great, not because of what they
could buy or sell, but in terms of the values they held
and practiced…
we value Gandhi and MLK or Jesus, not because of what they could
buy or sell but because of the values that they preached and practiced…
and America greatness is not a function of buying or selling anything,
but of the values that we American’s preached and practiced…
and that is why America’s greatness is no longer… because
we only preach and practice the buying and selling of material
goods… values like honesty and justice and hope and peace are
not only devalued but actively discouraged… values which is what
makes greatness, true greatness possible, are denied, devalued…
which means America practices, with great vengeance, nihilism…
any time people and their values are denied, devalued…
that is nihilism… and that is the true legacy of the modern
GOP… it preaches and practices nihilism…
in the last election, the GOP made their slogan,
MAGA, Make America great again……
instead the GOP is preaching and practicing nihilism
and greatness can never come from nihilism……
so the vaunted choices of American’s is a lie…
the real value of America is the only
choice left to American’s…
nihilism…
Kropotkin