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As opposed to the other politicians appearing at the annual CPAC conference in Maryland, Donald Trump promised that he was going to deliver entirely new policies.  In an “Agenda 47” message on Friday, he delivered on that promise with an extraordinary, optimistic, and bold mission-orientation for America’s future. The title of his address was: “A Quantum Leap to Revolutionize the American Standard of Living.” 

He began by reminding Americans of their glorious heritage of “big dreams and daring projects”: “They pushed across an unsettled continent and built new cities on the wild frontier. They transformed American life with the interstate highway system. Magnificent it was! And they launched a vast network of satellites into orbit all around the Earth.”

Now, he said, we have lost our boldness. But he promised to get it back in “a big way.” “Our objective,” he said, “will be a quantum leap in the American standard of living.”  He proceeded to outline paths to achieve that, starting with building entirely new cities: “Almost one third of the landmass of the United States is owned by the federal government,” and “we should hold a contest to charter up to ten new cities, and award them to the best proposals for development. In other words, we'll actually build new cities in our country again. These freedom cities will reopen the frontier, reignite American imagination, and give hundreds of thousands of young people and other people—all hard working families—a new shot at homeownership and in fact the American dream.”

“Another big opportunity is in transportation,” he continued. “Dozens of major companies in the United States and China are racing to develop vertical takeoff and landing vehicles for families and individuals. Just as the United States led the automotive revolution in the last century, I want to ensure that America, not China, leads this revolution in air mobility. These breakthroughs can transform commerce, bring a giant infusion of wealth into rural America, and connect families and our country in new ways.”

The third prong of President Trump’s new vision is a manufacturing renaissance. “Through our strategic national manufacturing initiative, which is going to be very big and very, very successful, we will turn forgotten communities into hives of industry, producing the goods we will no longer import from China.”

Next, he addressed the suffering middle and working classes of this country, and particularly our young families: “We will also have a major initiative on lowering the cost of living, with a special focus on lowering the cost of a new car and lowering the cost to build a single family home—and they will be beautiful homes—and I will ask Congress to support baby bonuses for young parents to help launch a new baby boom”

He concluded: “I'll challenge the Governors of all 50 states to join me in a great modernization and beautification campaign, getting rid of ugly buildings, refurbishing our parks and our public spaces, making cities and towns more livable, ensuring a pristine environment, and building towering monuments to our true American heroes. Very importantly, I will also make sure all of these new places are safe. We love and cherish our police. They will do the job the way they have to. It is time to start talking about greatness for our country again. I will dramatically increase living standards and build a future that brings our country together through excitement, opportunity, and success.”

This 3 minute 55 second speech is one of the most moving messages he has given, in my opinion, eclipsing even his March 25, 2017, address after signing the NASA Transition Authorization Act, renewing "our national commitment to NASA's mission of exploration and discovery."  For us who have lived through the last two and a half years’ nightmare of Biden’s insane destruction of our nation, with the constant threat of complete economic collapse and of World War III—where it almost seems that there is no hope in sight—President Trump again called forth our optimism and the “can do” American spirit of greatness.

Unlike the criminals who attack him, President Trump is fundamentally a “city builder,” very much like Lyndon LaRouche, the only other person I knew who was preoccupied with the vision of building beautiful cities as the means to foster the human creativity of those who live in and experience them.  LaRouche offered many plans for such cities, starting with what he called his "Leibnizian Approach to City Design.” In that design, LaRouche noted that the “core of the new city must be an educational complex..." "The very center of the city—at least the functional center of the city—must be a complex of pedagogical museums, libraries, and cultural centers associated with the activities of those museums and libraries. All urban lives should be organized around this complex of museums, associated parks, and teaching and research institutions.” The building of new cities must include population centers, including residential, industrial, commercial, and educational centers. Industrial centers must be linked to the labor force of nearby cities through new forms of transit, LaRouche proposed, very much along the lines of the revolution in transit and air mobility President Trump now champions.

It may surprise some that this is not an entirely new theme for President Trump. In his January, 2020 speech at Davos he reminded the assembled globalist pessimists of the beauty in their midst:

“Centuries ago, at the time of the Renaissance, skilled craftsmen and laborers looked upwards and built the structures that still touch the human heart.  To this day, some of the greatest structures in the world have been built hundreds of years ago.

In Italy, the citizens once started construction on what would be a 140-year project, the Duomo of Florence.  An incredible, incredible place.  While the technology did not yet exist to complete their design, city fathers forged ahead anyway, certain that they would figure it out someday.  These citizens of Florence did not accept limits to their high aspirations and so the Great Dome was finally built.

In France, another century-long project continues to hold such a grip on our hearts and our souls that, even 800 years after its construction, when the Cathedral of Notre Dame was engulfed in flames last year — such a sad sight to watch; unbelievable site, especially for those of us that considered it one of the great, great monuments and representing so many different things — the whole world grieved.

Though her sanctuary now stands scorched and charred — and a sight that’s hard to believe; when you got used to it, to look at it now, hard to believe.  But we know that Notre Dame will be restored — will be restored magnificently.  The great bells will once again ring out for all to hear, giving glory to God and filling millions with wonder and awe.

The Cathedrals of Europe teach us to pursue big dreams, daring adventures, and unbridled ambitions.  They urge us to consider not only what we build today, but what we will endure long after we are gone.  They testify to the power of ordinary people to realize extraordinary achievements when united by a grand and noble purpose.”