America

It is difficult for the baby boomers and those older to understand why many young people see the United States as some evil country. By every measure the US has improved. Life expectancy has improved along with healthcare. Vaccines and other medical marvels have reduced pain and suffering. More people have more education than any time in history. Technology has brought new excitement to daily activities. Much progress has been made in race relations. The Soviet Union ended without a war and communism was defeated. The numbers of people who vote in presidential elections has increased from a third to half. The numbers of women in congress has increased from 10 to 150 and the number of Blacks from 2 to 62. The Supreme Court was all White men and today it is 4 White men, one Black man that 4 women one who is Hispanic and one who is Black. College grads have increased from 5% to 40%. In my youth we had no TV but we had an ice box and during the war we had to limit things like sugar, gasoline and spare parts including used tires. We all got German measles, three day measles, mumps, whopping cough and scarlet fever. We had only one vaccine and that was for small pox. Even death by flu has dropped from 70 per 100,000 in 1950 to 20 per 100,000 today. There were no flu vaccines. This list could go on and on but many are too young to understand what things used to be like. America has always been an exceptional country and is so today. Count your blessings.