America is surely the greatest nation the world has ever known. But, of course, we all know it isn’t “perfect.”
We want to make it better for all of us. But are some of the recent decisions, votes and views of our leaders moving us in the “other” direction?
Noted scholar Thomas Sowell, whose columns appear on our editorial page and who has spoken in Chattanooga, has written a new book. It is intriguingly, and disturbingly, titled “Dismantling America.”
He says in the preface:
“There are Americans alive at this moment who may experience the national equivalent of ‘a perfect storm,’ either domestically or internationally, or both.
“To have what is called ‘a perfect storm,’ many dangerous forces must come together at the same time. Those dangerous forces have been building in the United States of America for at least half a century. By 2010, increasing numbers of Americans were beginning to express fears that they were losing the country they grew up in, and that they had hoped – or perhaps too complacently assumed – that they would be passing on to their children and grandchildren.
“No one issue and no administration in Washington has been enough to create a perfect storm for a great nation that has weathered many storms in its more than two centuries of existence. But the Roman Empire lasted many times long-er, and weathered many storms in its turbulent times – and yet it ultimately collapsed completely.”
Is this a “too pessimistic” view about our United States? We optimistically tend to think we will “go on forever.” But there are “ups” and “downs.” We can’t claim that we are in one of the “ups” these days.
But if we see signs of a storm forming, it certainly is wise to look out, be ready and avoid it if we can.
We are in turbulent times. It’s not like the War Between the States. It’s not like the Great Depression. It’s not like World War II. But it should be obvious that we are in a challenging time.
Realists know that leadership, decisions and principles do make differences.
If we do see trouble coming, we need to “batten down the hatches,” head in a different direction and avoid unnecessary damage.