July, 2010:

America's Greatness

When I was a kid, I tried to figure out why the U.S. was so much richer, so much more powerful, so much further advanced than the rest of the world. I tentatively concluded that natural resources was the main reason. Oil, coal, climate, rich soil... that kind of thing. But many other countries are equally blessed. Economist Walter Williams noted, "Africa and South America are probably the richest continents in natural resources but are home to the world's most miserably poor people. On the other hand, Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan and England are poor in natural resources, but their people are among the world's richest." Well, so much for that theory. Then I decided that it was just the size of the country. We are huge! But other countries are as large or larger: Australia, the former Soviet Union, Canada.

In the 90s, the liberals.... ah, excuse me, the progressives... the progressives tried to convince us that it was the Family Medical Leave Act, the 1972 Roe vs. Wade decision, the Great Society, gays in the military.... heck, it was just the beauty of waking up every morning and knowing that Bill Clinton was president.

Of course, many Republicans believe that the fact that we have the strongest military in the world has more than a little to do with it. "Might makes right," and all that.

Well, I suggest that our might helps prevent others from destroying us. But that is not why our country is so great.

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