The American dream lies on the fundamentals of making the land of America better and richer for every person based on their abilities and achievements as articulated by James Truslow in the year 1931 (Gupte, 2011). In the passage of time, healthcare has become expensive with people spending trillions of dollars on healthcare. Further, there are cases of reduced freedom of the judicial system, lack of protection of property rights, and bureaucracy in businesses that have drilled down to reducing the quality of life of the American people. The education levels in America have declined relative to other first world countries. It is these critical areas of life that saw the current president of America come up with the slogan of making America great again. The essence lays in rediscovering America and going to fix problems from the roots. The key area that required to be made great again included healthcare, education, enhancing economic performance and improved security in the country.
Making Healthcare great again
Making America great again starts with ensuring that people are healthy and can focus on productivity. The American healthcare system has failed from the manner in which the insurance companies operate in forms of cartels that charge high premiums that are unreachable for most people. Additionally, health inequalities are on the rise both between socioeconomic groups but also in racial groups. Solving the healthcare problems starts with addressing the root cause of the problem. America is known to spend the highest amounts of money on healthcare yet poor health outcomes are still on the rise. Calling people to pay a lump sum premiums to cover all health-related issues will create a system where there is predictability in healthcare expenditure and people will have the guarantee that they will not be asked for extra payment for some ailments (Bush, 2018). Every person in America should have medical insurance to ensure that people in the country do not die due to a lack of finances.
In the years before 1980, the people of America had the ability to choose the healthcare provider of their choice. However, this was revised and people were limited to certain medical services providers (Ridic, Gleason and Ridic, 2012). Such a policy needs to be revised to allow people visit providers of their choice. It means that charges will be standardized as people will prefer affordable healthcare while at the same time enjoy quality service given diversity in access to medical care.
Making Education great again
The quality of education in America has been on the decline is no longer the world-class education hub as countries such as Japan, Australia, and South Korea are ranked higher than the United States. There is a need to change the education system to ensure that every American child accesses high-quality education. It calls for ensuring that education is affordable for everyone both in private and public schools. Today, wealthy parents have the ability to hire private tutoring for their children and go an extra mile to ensure that extra-curricular activities are offered to their children. It means that those that cannot afford are at a disadvantage which puts the country at a risk low-quality education.
America has been at the front line of offering education to children with disabilities. However, despite the efforts, public schools do not find the motivation to go an extra mile and only provide the bare minimum for such children. However, the children require teachers that have specialized in their level of care. The children will be allowed to explore their full potential through the extra care provided by the schools.
Teachers in America need to be compensated equally irrespective of whether they teach in private or public schools. Private schools teachers have in the past accepted lower pay compared to public schools citing reasons such as better working conditions. However, salaries should be standardized to ensure that teachers are equally motivated to provide quality education to the students. In addition to equal pay, both private and public schools need to increase the pay scales for teachers. It means that the education system will manage to attract and retain the best teachers in the country. The turnover rates will be lower and the ultimate win is for the country through well-educated citizens that understand how to bring value to the country.
Making the Economy great again
The economy of America lies in the ability of the country to create adequate jobs for its people. Creation of jobs in America starts with understanding the areas of inefficiency. Imports have been cited as costing people the ability to create and sell as people rely heavily on cheap products from countries such as China. However, banning importation may not bring a solution to the problem. The solution lies in the ability to manage the imports and ensure that the products imported into the country are of high quality and do not come to create pollution to the country. Managing imports means that the country enjoys the benefits that come with importation including areas of transportation, wholesaling and storage (Scissors, Espinoza and Miller, 2012). Trade enhances the flow of money and without it, the economy is likely to contract rather than grow.
The tax system in America has become complex over the years and there have been losses as people take advantage of loopholes to avoid taxes. The Internal Revenue Code has grown so long over the years that the government finds it hard to keep track of the changes (Partlow, 2013). Reforming the tax system will mean that the country will have the capability to manage debt through the revenues collected.
Reforming the tax system calls for reducing the complexities of tax policies and reducing the corporate taxes that people are expected to pay and thus spurring the growth of the economy through businesses. There will also be an increase in disposable income and thus further capital creation (McCauley, 2012). The aim of the reforms is to ensure there is a fair system where people are taxed based on their tax base. Further, people will not evade tax and thus increase the revenues available to the country. The expenditure in the country further needs to be managed to ensure that spending does not grow faster than the income generated by controlling spending on areas such as government salaries.
Making security great again
The security system in America has gone down owing to the general deterioration of international security. There have been threats of terror attacks, nuclear attacks and other local attacks that threaten people’s peaceful co-existence. Restoring security in the country will begin with strengthening the military. President Reagan realized that he had to first revitalize the economy of America in order to enhance security (McCauley, 2012). When America becomes a first order country, they are able to have a strong negotiating power in national and international security issues. Increasing the strength of the military calls for an increase in the amount spent on equipment, technology and on the training given to the military men.
There is a need to enhance law enforcement in the communities to ensure that Americans feel safe in their own homes. In the 21st
Century, terrorism is not happening across the border but in the backyard of people’s homes meaning that there is a need to empower local policing agents to handle such problems (Docobo, 2005). They are the person that will be in charge of gathering information and sharing the same with other security agents. It is critical for the president to address such issues as drugs coming into the country by increasing security across the borders which will also provide a buffer against the entry of illegal immigrants. If people are to feel safe, law enforcers need to be protected and compensated well for their services.
It is key that the leaders focus on creating foreign policies that serve the interests of the American people first. America is viewed as a superpower and there is the likelihood that policies are also directed towards global prosperity. However, history has shown that such policies benefit other countries more than they do America. Though it may be viewed as a selfish step, the leaders are accountable first to the American people and then to the rest of the world. It means that they should start by focusing all their efforts on enhancing the well-being of the American people before they go into enhancing the well-being of the entire world.
Conclusion
Making America great again is a slogan that started with President Trump in his campaigns with the indication that things have fallen out of place and need to be fixed. There are concerns about the debt levels in the country, the high levels of unemployment, a decline in education levels in the country and the security levels. Making America great again calls for improving the economy by balancing trade between the levels of imports and exports in the country. There is a need to invest in security by increasing the budget on technology, the personnel, and training. There is a need to improve the economy through tax reforms and reducing the complexities of tax codes. It will increase not only the collection of revenues by the government but encourage investments in the country. Making America great again calls for the collective effort of everyone in the country and not just the leaders. It means that people are committed to reporting crime, ensuring that they access proper education and pay their taxes.
References
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McCauley, D. (2012). Making America Great Again: A Balanced National Security Approach. Small Wars Journal, 1(1).
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Ridic, G., Gleason, S. and Ridic, O. (2012). Comparisons of Health Care Systems in the United States, Germany and Canada. Materia Socio Medica, 24(2), p.112.
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