GOOD THINGS TO SAY ABOUT THE USA NEWSLETTER

If you have doubts at all that this is the greatest country in the world, just think about the last six years and all this country has survived.

First, there was a very controversial election with a razor-thin finish that had to be decided by the Supreme Court. There was a lot of bitterness and litigation in the courts, but no riots in the streets. As Americans we take that for granted, but in many other countries elections mean turmoil, riots and death, even deliberate murders.

CIVILIZED ELECTIONS ARE A SIGN OF GREATNESS, NOT A NATURAL RIGHT

The absence of all those horrors, the idea that they would never be tolerated, is part of what makes it so great to be an American. We take so much for granted, so many freedoms and rights that people all over the world would literally die for, that sometimes we need to step back and remind ourselves of just how privileged we are to live in the United States, not because it is the richest country in the world, but because it is the freeest and the fairest and the most open country in the world, where almost anyone can come and work hard and make their dreams come true.

AMERICAN IDEALS ARE STRONGER THAN TERRORISTS' IDEOLOGY

Terrorists tried their best to destroy all of that of course, but the fact that they did not succeed, that they came so far from succeeding and that their plans basically backfired and brought this great nation together, stronger and more united than ever, is a further testament to the greatness and strength of the American way of life. It may not be perfect, but it's the best there's ever been so far.

That's why one of our biggest problems, the subject of seemingly endless national debate, is how to keep people out, because so many people want to be part of the richness of this country, not just for economic reasons, but to take advantage of our social, cultural, religious and political freedoms. That is what terrorists and even natural disasters like hurricanes and earthquakes and tornadoes can never destroy.

As long as we Americans don't lose sight of who we are and what we have been given as citizens of this wonderful country, we can never lose to mindless thugs whose desire to kill those who they can not bend to their own way of thinking, we rightly condemn as evil and unconscionable. Regardless of what happens in Iraq or Afghanistan, America will triumph over terrorism in the end, because the American way of life has something positive to offer people, while the terrorists have nothing to offer trhe world but death, destruction and their own egomania.

FIGHTING TO KEEP PEOPLE IN, OR FIGHTING TO KEEP THEM OUT?

While we have to fortify our borders - not to keep out enemies, but to keep out all the people who voluntarily want to adapt the American way of life without any coercion, who risk their very lives to become part of America.

Think about that for a minute.

The terrorists have to try to scare people into going along with them and their ideas - out of billions of people in the world, they really don't get more than a few thousand volunteers - while we have to scare people away, because our country and our way of life is so popular and so enviable.

What other country does so much to help immigrants - even illegal immigrants - with free education and healthcare, employment assistance and supportive immigrant communities ready to absorb newcomers and eventually turn them into Americans.
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EDUCATION FOR A FREE SOCIETY

And what about our education system? Critics scream that it's inadequate to meet the needs of the 21st Century, that we're falling behind other countries, but how accurate is that? What is it based on and should we really believe it?

This doomsday thinking is generally based on test results. Americans schoolchildren supposedly do very badly on international tests. We say supposedly, because many of these tests are really comparing apples with oranges.in other words they are not fair balanced tests. Why? Because in most foreign countries, only the best students ever get to take tests.

Their educational systems are stratified, set up according to a strict caste system, in which the less able students are weeded out and forced into vocational programs. Only those students bound for universities get to compete in the international examinations. The slower less able students don't get counted. Therefore, they don'tdrag down the scores for the nation as a whole.

In this country, of course,we don't do things that way. No child must be left behind, so every child, regardless of ability, must take the international exams and must compete with the best students from other countries around the world. Even those who are in special education classes, or classes for limited English speakers, are expected to compete on an equal footing.

Is it any real wonder that American students as a group, do not do well compared to the elite of other nations? Let them include their undereducated classes and then we'll see how the scores really come out.

it's amazing that none of the critics of our educational system can answer one simple question. If our educational system is so bad, then why is our college and university system generally acknowledged to be the best in the world? Almost all the people who run our colleges and universities were educated in the United States. Most of them were educated in public schools. So how bad could those public schools have been?

The majority of students in American colleges and universities are American students, born and raised in the United States and educated in American schools. Despite this, American colleges and universities are considered to be the best in the world. Tens of thousands of foreign students compete for admission to graduate and undergraduate programs at American schools. What does that tell you about the quality of the American educational system?

Yes, United States may be lacking in engineers and sceintists and math teachers, but that may be partly due to the fact that American students get to make their own choices. The government can't force them into fields they are not interested in. This is what a healthy, free society is all about. If imbalances develop, but we have to come up with incentives to lure people into math and the sciences, rather than trying to force them.

EVEN CRIME IS GOING DOWN

Yes, all the statistics show that America is becoming less violent and crime-ridden, despite what TV and the media would sometimes have you believe. Contrary to all the reports and horror stories, there were no piles of dead in the New Orleans Superdome, no gangs raping and looting and murdering. Sure, we still have our criminals and our psychpaths like any other country, but overall, this country is civilized, not barbaric and we come together in the face of disasters, man-made and natural, rather than falling apart.

POLITICAL SCANDALS CAN'T BRING US DOWN

We've been through an unprecedented set of political crises and scandals over the last several years. We've had a President impeached, Speakers of The House Of Representatives and now a Majority Leader forced to resign, yet this country and our political system have survived, stronger than ever.

EVEN ECONOMIC HARD TIMES COULD ONLY SLOW US DOWN TEMPORARILY

The stock market crashed with a bang! instead of a whimper. Did that slow things down? Sure it did, but it certainly did not bring anything to a halt, except for those executives caught looting their companies. People shifted their money into real estate and low interest rates created another boom. Now the stock market is bouncing back and even the dot coms are making a comeback.

The message is clear. America is not invulnerable nor invincible, but is it is a strong, vibrant country ready to bounce back from adversity and restore itself to greatness, meeting challenges as they come.

We Are so Ashamed to Be Americans

For years now, we have been criticized and lectured to by our betters, the wise and stately Europeans. Our Presidents have been dumb and our foreign and domestic policies barbaric and certainly not up to the high standards of the Europeans.

They have always been particularly critical of our policies in the Middle East and towards the Muslim world in general. We were always far too pro-Israeli, while the more enlightened Europeans, took a more evenhanded - ie., pro-Arab approach. They of course, understood the Muslims so much better than we did and do so much more about how to deal with them effectively.

The Europeans were never bothered by things like UN embargoes against Iraq or American arguments against dealing with Iran and its Shi'ite fundamentalist government. They were so much more advanced and so much more civilized than primitive Americans.

Somehow the superiority could not help them deal with the Bosnian massacres right in their own backyard and we primitive unsophisticated Americans had to step in, but that's beside the point. Somehow, the Europeans still felt free to criticize our foreign policy, particularly in regard to the Muslim world.

Now, while we feel great sympathy for the Europeans and troubles they've experienced lately, ranging from train bombings to riots raging out of control across France and other countries, we can help to sit back and reflect on the difference between the immigrant situation in Europe and the situation here in the United States.

We are not had immigrants or their American-born offspring rioting in the streets, or sabotaging our public transportation system and killing dozens of people. Although regrettably there has been some tension in some communities, particularly after Sept. 11, for the most part, Muslim and on Muslim immigrants are peacefully integrated into American society. Their children are American, by birth right and by inclination.

Most of them are proud and happy to be Americans. When they live in the suburbs, is not because they are confined to immigrant slums tucked safely away from the center cities, where ordinary Americans don't have to think about them, it is because they're successfully following the American dream.

If Muslim and on Muslim difference in United States live in the suburbs, it is rarely in publicly subsidized housing projects that are breeding grounds of crime and despair, it is usually in their own home.

The riots currently sweeping Europe remind us of how far our country has really come since our riots in the 1960s. Those riots and exposed some ugly truths about the United States. They were serious problems that needed to be corrected, so Americans went to work. Many those problems were corrected. Many more problems still exist. The United States is by no means a perfect society, but we do learn from our mistakes and try to correct them. We do try to make our country better.

The rioting in Europe is not cause for Americans to gloat or point fingers. It is a time for us to re-examine our own society and be thankful for the progress we have made in the last 40 to 50 years and think about the changes and improvements we want to make in the next 50 years.

Immigration and shipping population growth are the ways of the future. How we deal with them, will help determine our future as a nation indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. As long as America remains most popular destination for immigrants from all over the world, people who want to bring their strength and imagination and talents to contribute to America, the America will stay strong and Free.

We welcome your comments, suggestions and most of all, contributions to the Good Things To Say About The USA Newsletter.

Contact us at:
Good USA Foundation
2887 College Avenue #429
Berkeley CA 94705
goodusa@earthlink.net
510-848-1

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