We can still build the bridges that make America great

I came across a truck parked on the side of a dirt road while I was hunting last week with a red “Make America Great Again” cap displayed on the dashboard. The plate on the front read, “You can’t fix stupid.”

I’ve been thinking about it ever since. The sort of othering promoted by President Donald Trump and his MAGA agenda is sweeping the globe as populist movements grow in response to economic pressures. That, coupled with our long history of colonization and racism, is feeding anti-immigrant movements. Divides between the ideological left and right are widening. Those who would hold the middle are being marginalized.

With younger generations consistently moving America in a more progressive direction, the Republican Party is increasingly abandoning democracy in an attempt to hold power. Some still believe in working to bring people of color, women and young people into the GOP, but the party as a whole has embraced nationalism and anti-democratic policies like reducing polling places and canceling presidential primaries.