A week ago, this country celebrated its 250th birthday. What began as an experiment in governance has evolved into the greatest country on earth. Yes, we have had issues. Yes, we have discriminated against each other, even killing each other, forgetting that we are all equal. Yes, we as a nation have shown our collective ass more than once. But in the aggregate, we are still the country where most of the world wants to be or be like. You don’t believe me? Do the research.
Visitors during this World Cup have marveled at the America they have experienced – not the America that the media had presented to them, but the true America as evidenced by individual Americans they have met.
We in this country have so much more than any other country – more in money and standard of living, certainly, but in other equally as important ways as well. We have freedom to be who we want to be, to speak freely, to bear arms (although the attempts to erode that right are out there), to live openly as a gay or lesbian person when in many other countries to do so would be a literal death sentence. To declare oneself a man or woman even when biology says otherwise, and to expect everyone else to go along with the delusion (and we have). To voice all sorts of crap without fear of being arrested for saying something deemed “wrong” or “phobic.” Who would ever have thought that in the United Kingdom one can be arrested for posting a negative opinion about Islam? They can be now.
Countries go through phases, and ours is no exception. The pendulum swings right, and then left, and sometimes stays in the middle for a while. Right now, I think we are in a pretty strong swing to the far left. The election of politicians who make no attempt to hide their socialist ideology supports this conclusion. The open antisemitism that is gaining ground in our country is disturbing in the extreme and should be a wakeup call. If the swing continues in its current direction, my children and grandchildren will live in a very different country from the one where I have lived for most of my life. And I don’t think the result will be very attractive.
All, however, is not as dire as it may seem. Or at least I hope not, if what I saw this past week is any indication. Rural America and the ethics instilled in that lifestyle still exist in this country. We don’t have to live like the Amish, but maybe we could embrace some of their qualities. Hard work, family, faith, and love of country. When Hurricane Helene hit, I was still living in western North Carolina where the brunt of the storm destroyed so much. Before more than a few days had passed, the Amish were there helping, just like they did in Mississippi after Hurricane Katrina. (Lord, help me – I just realized I lived in MS when Katrina hit and in Brevard, NC when Helene hit. Maybe living near me is not a good idea).
And it wasn’t just the Amish that I saw this past week. I saw middle America. Farmland in Michigan, small towns called “villages” where everyone I came across was friendly, and family restaurants where, like the bar in “Cheers”, everyone knows your name. Hardworking people, not rich, but not poor. People living a free life in a free country.
Are we perfect? Of course not, for we are human beings. But I have hope that there are more of the sort of Americans that I saw this past week than the ones who are calling for the demise of this country. We are a Republic worth keeping.