https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEIuG4p0Jnc
Here comes another one. Please hit that link and watch the video. As he says at the end, we, as Americans, need a sense of perspective. I firmly believe we are in better shape now as a country than we ever have been. Do we have problems? Yes we do. We have infighting, mainly because of political polarization. That has a deeper meaning though that many people don’t take into account.
If we are able to fight about petty things, then things are not going that bad. Many people will say the things we are arguing over are not petty things and they represent an existential crisis for America. I don’t agree with that at all. Our culture has constantly evolved since the founding- this is just the same. We haven’t had a political scandal the level of Watergate since Watergate. We have had some price inflation, but not to the level of the ‘70’s, AND it looks like it is now under control. The economy is still growing. People still have jobs. There isn’t a shortage of food or toilet paper, for that matter.
The last time we, as a country, truly felt united was in the midst of an outside crisis: 9/11. It's sad, but the only thing that can really bring this country together is a true crisis. Otherwise, we find things to divide ourselves over and just bicker about them. Doing that all the time just makes things seem worse than they actually are.
We have too many good things going on for this country to be in bad shape, especially when comparing to other places in the world. We also have the internet. A mode of communication that almost everyone has access to and can send their thoughts out to the world. And guess what news is the most popular? Bad news. People love reading bad news. That’s why it is so proliferative. That’s also why so many people think we are in such bad shape. Bad news sells and companies make money off of how many people click on their sites.
That’s also why I’m not going to get too many clicks on this. I am trying to spread good news and show people we are not in as bad a situation as they think. I’m just trying to spread a little optimism in this pessimistic world, even if it's boring.
Be kind to one another.
Until next time!
Brian