A glass half full

Everyone approaches life differently. Some are optimistic about the future, some are not. Some think positively about things, others are routinely negative.

There’s also that philosophy of some seeing the glass half empty, others seeing the glass half full. When it comes to America, I see the glass half full.

There are, unfortunately, purveyors of doom and gloom; negative all the time. We have real problems in America, for sure, but they do not define our country. Politicians can claim the country is currently in a terrible mess, but if one legitimately analyzes the state of the union, that’s quite a stretch.

The Republican presidential nominee declares America is in decline, and says we won’t have a country if we don’t vote for him. He never says anything positive about America’s growth, productivity and stability, because none of it happened because of him.

America’s critics think of themselves as “true” patriots. They doggedly promote patriotic acts like repeating the Pledge of Allegiance, or making school children sing the national anthem every day. And they’re obsessed with the flag. They obviously don’t understand the flag is in reality just a symbol - a symbol of a proud nation of Americans.

Instead of obsessing over symbols, they should honor the American people and recognize the world needs American leadership.

It doesn’t help when older adults speak disparagingly of young Americans. Somehow, senior citizens always forget when they were young, they were criticized by their elders. Regrettably, when “seniors” reach their own golden years, many become curmudgeons, always criticizing the youth of the day as unpatriotic, poorly educated, irresponsible, etc., etc.

Young people don’t deserve such an assessment. As a group, they are serious, conscientious citizens. Their social media skills make them smarter, more up to date and informed about what is going on in the world. Despite all the issues of bullying and other bad behaviors, today’s youth are more accepting and open-minded. They’re as much, or more, concerned about inequality and other problems as the generations that came before them.

Some might think today’s youth don’t care about anything, but they are wrong. Young Americans care passionately about things that matter.

Negative people criticize our colleges and universities, our health systems, our educational systems, all of which are among the finest in the world. They complain about our military which is, without question, the best and the strongest in the world. Our elections deserve respect for being free and fair; and our tax system, although not perfect, is a heck of a lot better than in most parts of the world.

American politics are ugly at times, exasperating and partisan. We often don’t like candidates or legislators or our elected leaders. Posts on social media can be hateful, sometimes obscene and often really dumb. Our system of government – a Republic – isn’t always equitable and often hard to manage, but it is fool-hardy to discount the strength of our democracy. And it’s unpatriotic to take our freedoms for granted and do nothing but complain.

National media habitually concentrate on unimportant stories and details. They get distracted by scandals, celebrity and the mundane. They frustrate us with unfair coverage, and sometimes outright dishonesty. Still, we are blessed to live in a country where the press is free of censure. As consumers of news, we have freedom of choice. Free to take it or leave it - or even to delude ourselves with false information.

So many of us in America lack a world view. We don’t know what’s going on other than in our own little world. We lack understanding of countries where their citizens do not live freely. We complain about all the things we don’t like in America, but lack the insight to make accurate comparisons with other nations.

Actually, some don’t want to appreciate how really special it is to live here. They would rather bash America to make political points.

We’ve never been governed by kings or dictators, and don’t plan to in the future. During these times of division and acrimony, we have a moral duty to defend our way of life from those who are not Americans. We also have a duty to defend America from those who are unamerican.

We have many blessings. Every so often, we need to count them.