What does Again Mean?

Make America great again. Make men great again.

Catchy phrases. Easy to remember. They work well as slogans and rallying cries. 

I understand the desire for nostalgia and aspiration. I do. But I don’t know if this is it:

I remember when the make America great again started to get some steam. I asked what time period was America great. I was told repeatedly the 1950s. A time where there was no civil rights amendment. A time of economic prosperity, but women couldn’t open a bank account on their own. 

That’s the problem with looking backward. We can get tunnel vision. We can focus on what benefitted us and who we are (or would be) and we miss how others would be affected. 

I personally feel that America has always been great due to its potential, people, and perpetual progression. So I struggle with looking backward when we have so much ahead of us. 

The same portions of society that truly believe that America needs redemption to a state of greatness also thing that we need to make men great again. Now this one I can understand more than making America great again.

First there’s a weird split with men. Most positions of leadership in government and business are absolutely manned by men. That’s just a fact. 

Now it’s also a fact that men are no longer the majority share of college graduates, are more likely to report not having any friends, are less likely to date or be in relationship, and more likely to commit suicide than women. 

I think it’s these two realities causing a huge amount of disconcertion among men, especially young men. At a time where millennials and gen z will not out earn their parents it’s hard to have hope.

Our economy is great in the macro, and women have made needed strides in the professional, educational, and ever personal spheres of their lives. But a lot of young men aren’t feeling that. They’re only experiencing a lack.

So we have to bridge the gap. 

We keep hearing how men aren’t manly anymore. That we have to be alphas to succeed. That we have to compete against each other and against women to claim back some form of masculinity. Some men think that holding back women and even taking their right to vote away.

This isn’t the way. 

We make men great how we always have. Giving them places to work, serve, and grow. 

I’ve had the pleasure to serve a mission, serve in the military, work as a first responder. Those were all fulfilling things. Moments and experiences that pushed and molded me. But they aren’t everything.

 Now I work with vets that need support in their recovery of mental health. I’m married. I have four children who are my world. And now I work to support my family and will never experience quite the same respect or even the thrill of those roles again. 

There's this idea that the manliest men are the most capable. Those who can perform the most violence in the name of good. Be large and strong. Earn the respect that makes them feel fulfilled. 

But it ends. And how we treat people. The relationships we form are all that matter. All that's left. 

We need to do better as men at reaching out to each other. Supporting each other. Demonstrating respect, teaching skills, modeling healthy relationships in all domains of life. 

That means we show vulnerability. We be the one to reach out in times of our weakness or our concern for others. We find ways to communicate our needs. We work to meet them ourselves and do what we can to meet others. 

There isn't one way to get there. But we should be a bulwark of support for others. Both by example and by purpose. Our words and deeds matter most to the smallest circles in our lives and we seem to have lost it. 

Rising tides raise all ships. We find ways to support women in the progress they've made. That way they can support us. We find ways to see women in our lives as individuals we cultivate friendships with those that matter and effect us. We go about finding a romantic partner who makes us better and we find ways to lighten their burdens and make them better. Too often I see frameworks that eliminate a partnership for men and women. One side of dominance only diminishes all. We can do better. And we must. 

This has never been done before. It's time for new and hopefully better tomorrow. We've made so much progress for so many, we can help those who are struggling without eliminating the efforts to buoy others up. And it will be worth it. 

Again can be a return to the past or a new beginning. Which do we want it to be? I hope and pray it's to begin again. 

That's how we help the most and especially the least among us.