Opus 2026-474: A Personal History Lesson

The speaker was talking about patriotism.  He was saying all the right things.  We were on the same page.  We have the same values.  Then he fell into the trap that politically correct minds keep pushing down our throat.

I’m sure you’ve been there where somebody talks about how America is the greatest country ever.  Then they feel in need to throw in some caveat about how we’re not perfect, where we have things that are wrong, where we have sins in our past, and so forth, add nausea.  Why do they have to always add that nonsense?  It serves no purpose other than to kiss up to people that hate America.

My suggestion is that we treat the history of our country the same way we would treat the history of someone we loved.  It’s possible that if you were talking about one of your children and the antics they got into when they were young that you might tell things that they would find embarrassing.  You don’t tell those things in order to run them down.  You tell those things in order to give people an insight into who they are and how human they are.  You don’t pick out all of the mistakes they made and list them one after another.  If you are at a wedding, giving the speech that a father gives when his daughter is getting married, you don’t point out every flaw in her personality.  You praise her.  You say wonderful things about her.  Everybody knows that you’re exaggerating, even when you’re not.

When we talk about our country, we need to realize, as I have said before, the option is not utopia.  There is no perfect society.  There never has been any perfect society.  What we need to remember is that although we are far from perfect, we are the closest thing to perfect that has come down the road at this point.

If you don’t agree with me, then I would suggest it’s time to tell us when and where you know of a society that brought more prosperity and security to the masses than does the United States of America.

I may wait but I will not hold my breath.

homo unius libri