With the Republican National Convention looming, I thought it only fitting to offer my own take on “How to Make America Great Again.”

First, stop trying to be “Great.” As a tired-looking 4th Grader once said during the Ford Administration, “Why do we have to be Number One all the time?” This is especially concerning where being “great” means beating everybody at everything. Sure, “be all that you can be” but stop trying to be somebody else, namely the mythic perfect person. (Besides, “Great” is code for “White.”)

Second, follow the aging dictum to be a “kinder, gentler nation”. When the rhetoric in national election campaigns is so nasty, and the commentary on certain cable news channels so dark, is it any wonder that the nation is so divided?

Third, repeal Citizens United. It is fundamentally destructive to a democracy to have outlandishly wealthy corporate interests trying to buy elections; it constricts the expression of the peoples’ will.

Fourth, stop gerrymandering by both parties but especially the cynical disenfranchising of significant numbers of voters in Republican districts including this one that we live in.

Fifth, reign in megacorporations who are wreaking havoc around the globe with such practices as driving family farmers off land they’ve been cultivating for generations under the trumped up charge that they are using seed patented by the company referenced here.

“Using seed” means that some of the company’s seed blew off their truck onto the farmer’s land and the company inspectors made it their business to come around looking for it. (Source: Whole Foods Video, “The Future of Food”).

Sixth, stop making it more difficult for people to vote. It’s obviously just an attempt to discourage likely Democratic voters.

Seventh, and here I descend into satire, establish a public fund to pay for psychotherapy for members of the Tea Party. Included in their therapy should be a scholarly course on the intelligent understanding of Scripture.

Eighth, reform our public school system in such a way that students are actually accountable for knowing something.

Ninth, include meditation as a requirement for graduation from all schools much as community service has been incorporated successfully. Meditation expands the Right Brain and makes for whole human beings.

Tenth, make nutritional studies a serious part of medical school curricula. Food has been known as the best medicine for millenia until pharmaceuticals took over the med schools. I’m out of space!