The American Way

Many of us grew up watching a TV show where the superhero stood for Truth, Justice and the American way.  What was of course left undefined was what is the American way.

I was probably naive but it didn't seem like there was much disagreement that it represented the values om the books and movies we had, values like work hard, give everyone a fair shake, stand up for the little guy, do your part and support the country. However if I had to pick one work that I equate with the American way its would be winners.

This was the era after the great depression and World War 2 where the President was the General who had led us to victory and we had a clear enemy in communism.  We had won every war (Korea was sort of ignored as a police action) and we were the best in pretty much everything, thanks in large part to the fact that most of our competitors had been devastated by the war.

Yes this was the America of winners that I and many of my compatriots grew up with, even if there were racial and economic problems beneath the surface that were getting ready to erupt.  It was an era where we faced nuclear elimination constantly but pretty much ignored it except when there was a crisis.  We had all those new suburban houses, everyone had a car, everyone had a job and life was as good as it gets, although of course it wasn't except on TV shows.

If you were to ask most of the Trump supporters this is when America was great and what they think he will bring back.  Its an empty promise since the world is a very different place and we have so much history since then, Vietnam, imported products, terrorism, computers and technology and the diversification of America, both socially and by nationality.

By almost any objective standard the world is better than it was back then.  More people have been lifted out of poverty, more countries are democracies, we have instant information at our fingertips and we have developed technologies that allow us to provide food (the green revolution) for everybody.  However as I pointed out this has not included the people who lived a privileged existence when American products dominated the world and good paying, union jobs were widely available.

There is no going back to that, no matter what vague promises are made.  You can't put humpty dumpty together again, time to enjoy the omelette.