One of the grand promises of America is what I’ve always understood to be a national commitment to progress. Inertia is unacceptable. Failure is not an option. The country will always learn from its mistakes, grow wiser and become exceptional in all things, from mail service to cancer treatment. We shall run miles ahead of other countries.
In farming and industry, in medicine and aerospace – you name it, we will build upon what earlier generations achieved. With public schools and world-leading universities, we will replace superstition and ignorance with science and enlightenment.
I am not sure how such inflated ideas got into my head. It might have been nationalist propaganda. Or maybe it was from growing up during the space race and the modern environmental movement. Or perhaps the notion of eternal progress came from my older brother, an accomplished scientist. Progress seems innate to science – discovery being the threshold to advances in the quality of our lives.
But the lingering pandemic has changed my view. While most Americans welcome medical progress and respect public health edicts, many others resent the whole thing as some sort of plot against personal freedom.
Look where we are.