Imagine a better United States [View all]

[yardwork]

Since it looks like our current system might not survive, let's take the opportunity to imagine a nation built on healthier, more sustainable stories.

Imagine a nation where every child is taught America's true history: People have lived on this continent for tens of thousands of years. In 1492 it was claimed for Spain. That encounter was the first instance of enslavement by Europeans on this continent. It was also the beginning of devastating epidemics of diseases new to this continent. Those diseases wiped out many of the people who were already here. That's why, when the Pilgrims landed more than 100 years later, they found a cultivated paradise with no people. God didn't give the land to us. Diseases and enslavement and genocide made it easy to "conquer."

The American West was not given to us by God, either. It was controlled by Spain (again, made possible by epidemics that wiped out many of the people who were already here.) Later, it was controlled by France and then "sold" to the U.S., helping us kick Spain out of the hemisphere, setting the U.S. up as the new global empire.

We all know why this history is not taught in schools, and when it is, it's met by total outrage (Critical Race Theory! Communism! Woke!) by people who profit from keeping Americans duped and voting Republican.

Let's imagine a nation where we acknowledge our problematic history and decide to make things better, by embracing the radical idea that people are truly equal. There's nothing special about being white. Everybody has the same responsibilities to be a good citizen, and it's assumed that everybody's abilities depend on their personal choices and skills, not the color of their skin or heritage.

Let's imagine a nation where people want to work together to make a strong, productive society, where people trust that their fellow citizens can all be capable, skilled, hardworking, and smart. Imagine a nation where most people don't walk around assuming that "those people" aren't inherently lazy or criminal. Radical idea, right?

Imagine a nation where it's important to everybody that people have enough to eat, decent housing, the opportunity to be educated at a reasonable cost, and access to high quality, affordable healthcare. Where the food we raise in this huge, bountiful land is shared. Where priority is given to helping raise the nation's children to be healthy, resilient, hardworking, moral, educated, and kind.

A nation where the CEOs of companies don't make 300 times what their workers make. A nation that doesn't glorify lifestyles of the rich and famous, but values protecting the environment, giving people time off to spend with family and friends, and encouraging hobbies and arts.

Imagine a nation where it's illegal and unheard of for elected officials to profit off the military or government contacts, where going to war is a last resort, where we protect our allies from invasion and bullying instead of doing the invasions and bullying.

We could have this kind of country. The reason we don't is that too many Americans believe a false story about how our country was founded. That lie keeps people angry, resentful, fearful, and unwilling to share.