Posted on 05/09/2021 5:43:07 AM PDT by Kaslin
Starting about 15 years ago a trend began that convinced Americans to focus on this country’s imperfections rather than its exceptionalism. This now rapidly growing trend has resulted in long-term economic stagnation and a deeply divided country.
America’s astonishing growth and well spread generosity has resulted in the world’s most prosperous country. It has also resulted in keeping much of the world safe from unwanted oppression, mostly by leading the victories in World War I and World War II. America fought other wars around the globe that protected our security interests but mostly help preserve freedom in other countries.
America was however, not perfect. Slavery and racism had been common practices in virtually every country in the world since the beginning of recorded history. Tragically, and what today seems like obvious ignorance, people just accepted that as normal.
About 90 years after our country was founded, we realized the unjust treatment of human beings was not consistent with the principles that America followed. Slavery was abolished. Deep seeded racism would, however, take a lot longer.
About 100 years after slavery was abolished, America made civil rights the law of the land, so that all people, regardless of skin color, had to be treated equally. Finally America had corrected its system to reflect its values. Racism within individuals could not be fixed quite as quickly.
Sometimes there are people whose ignorant and negative beliefs span generations. Often when these people have not had success in life or have faced tragedy, they look to blame others.
Their prejudice makes it easy for them to blame people of color.
Sometimes it’s the circumstances and the behavior of the minority groups that contributes to the racism. Since many have not been afforded adequate education and economic opportunities, they tend to have lower average income levels and higher than average crime rates. That fuels the racists.
In spite of those and other imperfections, miraculous advancements have been made in every area that improves the quality of life and our standard of living.
In healthcare, we have eliminated major diseases, fought pandemics in record time and vastly extended the life expectancy. The quality of life has vastly improved since we cure or at least treat almost all major health issues. We even use robotic surgery to quickly and accurately replace knees and hips.
Americans loved to be entertained and are willing to pay handsomely. As such the free market economy has been able to satisfy all of those needs. Large-screen, easy to use televisions are in everyone’s homes. The choice of what to watch is endless. Cable companies now offer hundreds of channels. At least a dozen streaming services allow us to watch what we want, when we want.
America loves sports. Those needs were also satisfied by our free market economy. There are now professional sports leagues with more than 30 teams for baseball, football and basketball. Soccer continues to grow in the US. Add in the tv broadcasting of college football and basketball, golf, tennis, car racing and the Olympics and there something for everyone.
Then there’s technology which has revolutionized our lives. The personal computer hit the market in the early 1980’s. That led to the creation of the internet in the 1990’s. Then can cell phones and tablets which morphed into small computers with wide-ranging communication devices and a high tech camera. This technology has vastly improved the quality of life for the entire population.
We should focus on our achievements instead of focusing on our imperfections. Although we should recognize those imperfections and move to fix them without destroying anything.
Instead we vilify those who we should be thanking. Businesspeople who were able to provide the most satisfying goods and services, became very wealthy. Most are now millionaires and a few are billionaires.
We should be thankful to them for satisfying the needs of consumers and providing opportunity for workers. That’s the way a free market system works: exceptional but not perfect. It provides a fair distribution of income based on an individual’s contribution. Because contributions vary widely, we have an unequal distribution of income.
Focusing on the imperfections will continue to stagnate long term economic growth and further divide the country. Our system is not racist. Barak Obama and Kamala Harris would not have been elected if we have a racist system. There are racist people who need to be better educated.
In the meantime let’s focus on the three-quarter full part of the glass rather than the one-quarter empty.
TRUE
Our biggest imperfection is the left. Why we tolerate these buttwipes is beyond comprehension.
Sooner or later we will accept the fact that there is only one treatment that will work. It is not pleasant, but necessary.
Hey, Obama became president in 2009 and that was 12 years ago. I know the author meant to point this out but was probably afraid of being called a racist.
Tolerate? Hell they’re hoisted up and given a place of honor. Saw something about the new dizznee push for equity(not equality) and pretty sure I saw ibrahim xendi(? who cares) named on one of their modules on how to be subservient and less white or whatever. Sure seems like the heads of a lot of these big companies would buy jim jones crap and follow him to Guyana. Or follow charles manson. Or adolf biden. Or commie commah-La. WTH? How are so many people buying this crap? Oh, probably lack of critical thinking skills. Definitely ZERO commom sense. Lord help us.
I agree.
In our “Patriot’s History of the United States,” Mike Allen and I identified the “Four Pillars of American Exceptionalism” that were present at our real founding, namely Plymouth (but not at Jamestown):
1) A Christian, mostly Protestant religious tradition with congregational (bottom up) governance
2) Common law with bottom up governance and equality of leaders
3) Private property with written titles and deeds (Not present in 80% of the world then)
4) A free market, which really began in America in 1630 with the creation of the Plymouth mill.
Often when these people have not had success in life or have faced tragedy, they look to blame others.
Their prejudice makes it easy for them to blame people of color [white people].
But yes, we should focus on our exceptionalism. After all, if you're an inhabitant of this planet, and IF you have any freedom, you can probably thank the United States of America for it.
We should do what we have to do for our country and our people.
We shouldn't be reopening old wounds all the time.
We probably should also tone down the "exceptional" talk a little.
There are plenty of countries with modern economies and relatively free societies.
We have to compete with them, not pretend that we are the only country like that.
There was a time when people had a right to be a bigot; just like they had the right to be a hippie and live on a commune.
It was a Live and let Live philosophy.
Now the hippie is still OK but the bigot must be re-educated.
Today it’s Live and let only those who agree with me Live.
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