We’re making America ‘gilded’ again, with all that age’s corruption

Published 1:30 am Wednesday, September 3, 2025

The GOP’s goal has been to Make America Great Again. But when was America great before? If you look at what the present administration is doing, you might say that the 1890s, the peak years of the Gilded Age, was when America was previously Great.

In the 1890s:

• Tariffs were high;

• Wages were low except for highly-skilled workers;

• Even so, some people accumulated huge fortunes;

• The federal bureaucracy was riddled with corruption;

• Government officials ignored laws and treaties they didn’t like;

• The presidents in office in the 1890s appointed their unqualified friends to important positions;

• Many incompetent judges were appointed for their loyalty to their political patrons, resulting in corruption;

• Local charities were the only sources of aid to the poor and many people starved; and,

• Immigrants were being targeted because they came from Eastern Europe and that was not acceptable to earlier immigrants who came from Western Europe.

If the 1890s are the model for being Great, then we truly are Great again.

Stuart T. Cordts

Lynnwood