“We shall nobly save, or meanly lose, the last best hope of earth.”— Abraham Lincoln (December 1, 1862) 

The Problem. Under the cruelly ironic and cynical slogan “Make America Great Again” the prestige of America has in reality fallen to a new low. Once the leader of the free world, that role has been abdicated in favor of Germany. Our leadership in science has been weakened if not dissipated by America’s abandonment of manned space exploration, of physics research like the Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland, of the advances in supercomputers now occurring in China, and above all of America’s completely unjustified refusal to sign the Paris Agreement addressing climate change. 

America was once a model for the developing world on achieving prosperity and democracy together, but now the Chinese model of economic development under authoritarian control is gaining favor to the detriment of people not connected to the new power centers. Even when America still had many flaws of discrimination and repression, it was still a beacon of human rights. Now its policy is to turn a blind eye to the suppression of women, the violence against the LGBT community, the oppression of religious minorities and the virtual enslavement of worker, children and women.

Because America has fallen short of what we claim to believe and what we could by a new effort actual achieve, the world has largely stopped looking to America for answers or leadership. America cannot nor should it rule the world, but it can be a model for others to follow once again.

The Solution. On the eve of the American Revolution Thomas Paine promised we could create a new world. Now it is in our power, should we wisely use it, to renew our role in the world. While fully acknowledging that America has never been perfect, is not without faults today and we never completely fulfill the American dream, we can reassert ourselves and our country back in the world. 

We can reclaim our role in NATO, lead the transformation into a green energy future, reaffirm the values of human rights above profit, underwrite a new wave of scientific research, advocate the values of democratic government, fight abuses of our values here and abroad, and make every effort to reclaim America’s role in the world without apology or guilt.

To achieve these goals I propose the creation of a new advocacy group: The Last Best Hope of Earth Society. The society, while strictly nonpartisan, would strongly advocate and advance these goals in the marketplace of ideas. The society could be a forum for writers on various issues, sponsor conferences bringing together advocates, recognize with an annual award an American and a foreigner for advancing the goals of the society, encourage educational programs, engage the media on the goals and conduct other activities.

What Needs to be Done Now. To create the society the following are necessary steps.

● Find an initial group of volunteers for a board of advisors.

● Incorporate the society as a non for profit.

● Secure a trademark for the name

● Secure urls for .com, net and .org.

● Set up a home page

● Promote the society in media and among social media.

● Solicit donations

These are at best preliminary thoughts of what would be a complex and challenging undertaking. But if it succeeds the effort would be well worth and the result, a renewed America, the greatest return possible.