I won’t be tuning into the Republican National Convention, though last night, while eating dinner, I overheard that the theme for the first night of the Convention was ‘We Built That’.

So who and/or what is the Grand Old Party (GOP) referring to with ‘We’? Who exactly is ‘We’? Is it a reference to Americans generally or to Republicans specifically? If it’s to Americans, what type of American are they referring to? Is ‘We’ inclusive or exclusive? Can anyone join?

On top of these questions, if we are to assume that the ‘We’ is a reference to Republicans, who exactly are Republican voters anyways? If you look at the data available, Republican voters in the 2012 election are mostly white men, many of which are so-called ‘blue collar’.  Small business owners, soldiers, and religiously devout Christians are also more likely to vote Republican.  Most women, especially single women, however, are likely to vote Democrat. So too are non-white Americans and immigrants. Americans who have more degrees are also more likely to vote Democrat.

And what exactly has this ‘We’ group ‘Built’? While still a powerful country, the United States is waning quickly as a global power. Thanks to both Republicans AND Democrats, the country is over 16 trillion dollars in debt. Under the leadership of the GOP, the country bogged itself down into two misguided military adventures in Iraq and Afghanistan, and turned much of the world in an anti-American direction. The United States is also one of the most unequal societies in the entire world. Our standard of living isn’t nearly as high as Americans think it is. Our education system is broken. Our younger generations are in debt. Religious minorities are continuously attacked.  American families are in shambles. The divorce rate is extremely high. Same-sex couples can’t even get married in most states. Americans are spiritually dead, arrogant, and oftentimes ignorant of foreign cultures. The nation is overly materialistic and craves the drama of non-talented celebrities and their degrading television shows.

Is this what the ‘We’ have ‘Built’?  Couldn’t the Republican National Convention slogan read ‘We Helped Destroy It’?