Rose-Colored Glasses

This blog, like most of the Internet commentary, has a decidedly negative flavor. Not so good ... ergo, I've decided to try, at least for this one post, to walk on the sunny side of the street. One of Ronald Reagan's strong points was that he was always looking at things through rose-colored glasses. And the genius of Barack Obama's first presidential campaign was it slogan, "Hope and Change." Accentuating the positive is almost always the better strategy. People like to feel good ... and therefore they like people who try to make them feel good.

So what is so positive in our lives in America today? We have a capitalism-driven growing economy ... the largest in the world. We have a plentiful supply of cheap labor to our south ... anxious to experience our American life. We have a premier higher-education system ... the envy of the world ... and one which keeps supplying us with gifted entrepreneurs. We have the geographic advantage of being isolated from most of the rest of the world by two large oceans  We have a very low inflation rate. We have a generally benign climate. We have a national park system that is the envy of the world. We have the world's best health-care professionals and technology. Despite continuing declines, we still have an enormous manufacturing capacity.

And we are currently not in a hot war draining our treasury and supply of young people. Most crime in this country is on the decline except in a few hot spots. We have a democratic-elected government and all the freedoms provided by our Bill of Rights. We are abundantly supplied with raw materials. We have a stable currency ... the basis of most world-wide commerce. We have the strongest military in the world. We have a very large middle class that supports our democracy and our way of life. We have an enormously efficient food-supply chain. We lead the world in most technological advances. We still carry a large surplus of prestige with most world governments.

Enough? Feeling better?

Yes, we also have problems ... but I leave these for later comment.