A Special Providence

"A special Providence protects fools, drunkards, small children and the United States of America." — Otto, Prince of Bismarck

It's true, and if you don't believe it, here's an example: President Franklin Roosevelt was a sick man in 1944. He held on for another year, and we got Harry Truman. Had he died in 1944, we would have been looking at Henry Wallace, admirer of the Soviet Union, as president.

We live in a nation that is rich enough for people to worry about bullshit like how animals feel about being killed and eaten. I doubt they like it. But in nations where people are living hand-to-mouth, no one cares about how the animals feel.

The Soviet Union had to build walls to keep people from leaving. Some US citizens want to build walls to keep people from coming here. We should be embarrassed about building a wall across the Mexican border, but it is also a powerful statement that so many people want to come here.

We are the beneficiaries of the traditions of England: rule of law, empiricism, property, contracts, government accountability. It is our traditions, not land, population or resources, that make our economy what it is. We can sow today and reasonably expect to reap tomorrow.

Sure, we have our share of unfairness and futility. We have people coasting and other people carrying them. We have people who work hard and live in poverty. We have people who suffer through no fault of their own. Everybody does.

We have a total inability to have a logical public discussion of ideas without lapsing into ad hominem attacks and abuse. But, whatever side of the political divide you're on, you don't have to worry about the secret police coming to your door the way my father did.

If you live in this country, you don't expect to see the inside of a working concentration camp. Neither do you expect famine or to bury a child of your own.

We have troops in foreign lands, dying for causes you may or may not agree with. But they die at a lower rate than soldiers of other countries, because we are rich enough to substitute technology and firepower for people.

The nutbars of the world hate us because we're here. It's convenient for them to blame all their shortcomings on us. Their hate means nothing; consider the source. For a lot of other people in the world, we are the City on the Hill.

We have limitations, and we need to take these limitations seriously. Most of the entries in this blog will include discussions of current problems. This entry is to give thanks for living in the United States of America.