Has America really lost its greatness?

Donald Trump's campaign slogan has hit a nerve. But what does it even mean?

What a dump.
(Image credit: Louie Psihoyos/CORBIS)

Donald Trump's campaign slogan is "Make America Great Again," which asserts that though America was once great, it no longer is. But to hear his litany of complaints — about how our leaders are idiots, we get our butts kicked by other countries, and we can't do anything right — you'd almost think his real slogan is "America: What a Dump."

And depending on how you ask the question, it seems that many of us would agree. A new Bloomberg poll shows that 72 percent of Americans think America isn't as great as it once was. But is that true? And if it is, so what? What does it mean for a country to be "great," and how important is it?

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Paul Waldman

Paul Waldman is a senior writer with The American Prospect magazine and a blogger for The Washington Post. His writing has appeared in dozens of newspapers, magazines, and web sites, and he is the author or co-author of four books on media and politics.