America is already great.
We are the world’s largest wealthy economy by a long shot. Only a few economies beat us in per capita GDP and they are all much smaller than us.
We have the world’s most dynamic entrepreneurs. Silicon Valley is the envy of the world, and there are mini-Silicon Valleys on the rise in other metropolitan areas as well.
We are blessed with most of the world’s important natural resources. When we thought we were running out of some of them like oil, some of those dynamic entrepreneurs I mentioned above created new technologies and processes to find new immense supplies of it.
We have massive amounts of relatively empty, highly liveable land that spans an entire continent from sea to shining sea. While others are trying to slow down population growth or keep immigrants out, we have plenty of space and opportunity for productive, hard-working immigrants to take advantage of in ways that would benefit everyone (despite the efforts of some who would rather build walls).
We share borders with two relatively stable and peaceful allies and have friendly relations with most countries in the world.
Our military is unmatched and respected by everybody on the planet who isn’t insane.
We have faced much more difficult challenges in the past, including the the War for Independence, the Civil War, the Great Depression, World War II, the struggle for Civil Rights for all, the Cold War & threat of global thermonuclear war and 9/11. Thus far, we have not merely survived but thrived.
The question should really be “How can America be even greater in the future?” and I think the answer is pretty simple.
Right now we are at the head of the pack. We are that lone runner or bicyclist leading by a wide margin. By virtue of being in the lead, we do not necessarily know what is ahead, and we will encounter challenges up ahead that have never been encountered before. The good news is that our talent, skills and experience have gotten us to this point and that should give us the confidence to continue pushing the boundary. We need our eyes to focus on what is ahead, and not what is behind.
When you are on top or in the lead, the only one left to compete with is yourself. We shouldn’t be constantly looking back at the rearview mirror and measuring ourselves based on how we stand relative to others. The only one who can beat us is ourself so we need to avoid making self-inflicted mistakes. We need to face forward with resolve and confidence that we can handle anything the future has to throw at us.
Also, it would be nice if we could fix our healthcare system. I’d rather not spend one-sixth of my GDP on something that doesn’t even give us better health outcomes than countries than spend at half the rate.
This was originally published in Quora in January 2016.