Welcome back, America — we’ve missed you!
I wasn’t born into privilege; far from it. As a guy who lived part of his childhood in the public housing projects of Harlem with his divorced mother and later in a trailer park in Oklahoma with his father, I know the taste of poverty. I know what it feels like to live amongst gang violence and in an unstable home environment. With that as a backdrop, my parents did not excuse bad behavior, theft, or poor performance in school. If anything, they expected me to work harder because of my circumstances.
I took those lessons to heart. I worked full-time to pay for college, served our country in the U.S. Army, and earned post-graduate degrees. I’ve been married for 36 years, raised five children, and rose to the ranks of vice president at a Fortune 100 company. I’ve founded and run a nonprofit that promotes the idea that the promise of America works for everyone, regardless of race or station in life.
I consider myself blessed and honored to call myself an American.
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However, in the past few years, we’ve witnessed a strong push by the progressive left to transform the country into something it was never intended to be. I find myself with opposing views, rallying Americans like a 21st-century Paul Revere, decrying Americans to maintain the freedoms and rights embedded into the nature of our country.
Today, biological men compete against women in sports, and we call it normal. We irreversibly mutilate our youth and call it gender-affirming. When black people riot, loot, and destroy property, the media calls it a peaceful protest. In my home state of Minnesota, Minneapolis Public Schools and the local Federation of Teachers (teachers union) adopt policies that openly discriminate against white teachers and call it equity.
Soon, most Americans, regardless of political party, will demand an end to the craziness. We need to be reminded of the ideals and values that made our country exceptional.
First, we’ve been blessed with our lifestyle and safe clean communities based on the hard work, sacrifices, and innovation of previous generations, not our own. We’ve been living on the blessings of our grandparents for decades and we don’t even realize it. Unfortunately, that tank will run empty if it isn’t refilled by a new generation.
Second, as Americans, courage and inspiration are infused into our veins. However, it’s been dormant for a long time, and we need to be reminded of how to activate it.
Last, we need to push back against the craziness that’s being shoved down our throats. Corporations cannot operate if 20 to 30% of their sales forces, finance departments, or R&D centers refuse to work if Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) indoctrination continue. Public school administrators would be perplexed if 20 to 30% of parents kept their kids out of school until Social Emotional Learning, Equity, and Culturally Responsive Teaching ceases and the focus is placed back on the basics of education.
In a moment of reverie, I envisioned what our country will look like after we regained our senses. Americans get a smack alert, and as quickly as it appeared, woke culture begins to dissipate. Un-woke trends begin to reshape the country and a new America emerges. And we welcome her back. This is what the “new” America looks like 10 years in the future:
1. We have a renewed appreciation for the Christian faith and the wisdom of our forefathers
The United States was an exceptional country because we were a self-governing country. Meaning, for the most part, the country constrained itself through a virtuous compass rooted in the principles of the 10 Commandants and other Judeo-Christian beliefs. The Founders knew that more government oversight meant fewer freedoms, which we are experiencing today.
With those teachings and values stripped from schools, universities, and nearly half all homes today, virtue and morality are passé and the compass of “truth” points in any direction that is fashionable regardless of the impact on children (the rise of fatherless homes), academic standards (equity), or a unified country.
2. Traditional public schools are no longer the standard for education
Parents from all backgrounds have grave concerns that the public school system is actively marketing and promoting the transgender and gay lifestyle to their elementary and middle school children in the name of equity and inclusion. Today, parents see faintly veiled attempts to market ethnic guilt trips to white students and low expectations to black students. If you disagree with their agenda, you’re labeled a racist, a homophobe, or a sellout.
As standardized test scores in reading, math, and science continually decline, parents begin taking a second look at what is happening in our schools. They become wise to progressive tactics and no longer fall victim to the labels because they know what is at risk for their children. More parents choose alternative methods of educating their children such as home school, online school, or micro-schools.
3. We laugh and cancel culture evaporates
Much of humor is laughing at ourselves for things we’ve accepted as normative dogma. American youth are being conditioned to view things we used to find funny as insensitive and offensive. We currently have several generations of American youth who have not experienced hardships in life like past generations of the Great Depression or a wartime military draft. We have generations of children who have never walked to school — ever. As a result, we have a lot of easily offended spoiled brats — who are easily manipulated — in adult bodies.
In the America of the future, we’ve become annoyed and weary of this humor-stifling, hypersensitive behavior. We laugh at ourselves. We joke with each other. A spin-off from the Babylon Bee becomes the new Saturday Night Live.
Most importantly, we treat each other with a sense of camaraderie and compassion. On the off-chance someone makes an off-colored joke or comment, we don’t react like it’s DEFCON-1. That person issues a sincere apology, and we move on. He or she is not canceled.
4. Manufacturing and infrastructure expansion in the U.S
The politicians that led us into dangerous trade and political relationships with China didn’t foresee the ramifications of those decisions in the 1990s. However, when the reality of the situation emerged 10 to 20 years later, they didn’t insist we withdraw from those relationships. As a result, we became dependent on China for our supply chain in the auto, military, and healthcare industries. In 2020, China cornered the market on 90% of the antibiotics in the world — a national security risk and certainly a risk for Americans hospitalized for various reasons, as well as military personnel requiring emergency hospital care.
With government subsidies for national security purposes, nearly 50% of U.S. manufacturing will return to U.S. shores and U.S. territories in 2030. Universities have restricted access to R&D centers to Chinese students and students from other countries of concern.
As a result, the U.S. experiences a resurgence in middle-class growth and prosperity.
5. Marriage becomes cool again, and people get married in their 20s
According to The Knot, the average age of marriage in 2021 was 34. With increased prosperity across a wide spectrum of the population and a renewed perspective of the Christian faith, America experiences an increase in marriage rates and people return to marrying younger. We haven’t seen that trend since the 1960s. Black Americans with current marriage rates at 25 percent begin to see an increase in marriage, a decline in fatherless homes, and a decrease in welfare dependency.
Without the heavy restraints of government regulations, dependency, and favoritisms, the spirit of America is constantly renewing itself. With the right leadership in place, the best days of America are just around the corner. I’m looking forward to saying “welcome back, America. We’ve missed you!”
Kendall Qualls is a former Republican Candidate for Governor of Minnesota. He was recently reinstated as President of TakeCharge, an organization that promotes the idea that the promise of America is available to anyone regardless of race or social standing. Mr. Qualls is an Army veteran. He has been married for 36-years and has five children.
