I’m proud of my country, I’m optimistic about its future and the prospects of freedom.

Oh sure, everywhere you look you see people complaining, arguing, pointing the finger at injustice. I proudly include myself among them. That’s good. The alternative is not the absence of injustice, but the covering-up of evil. And yes, the forces of reaction are on the move, becoming bolder and more vicious, spending fortunes, toiling ceaselessly and making every effort to monopolize the conversation and drown out the voices of their critics and of progress in order to perpetuate their crimes and privilege indefinitely. But that is only evidence that they are losing, that they know it, and that they are scared. In fact, they are desperate.

We take two steps forward, and one back, but the net progress is still forward. We are faced with massive problems, and yes, some may be insoluble, and some of the proposed solutions may be exaggerated, unworkable, or even downright wrong; but at least we are talking about those problems. We no longer pretend everything is wonderful and those who protest are just seditious whiners. We are rooting out the ugly in our Union, and when we can’t agree on what or whether it is, or what to do about it, at least we’re talking about it even if sometimes we are screaming at the top of our lungs.

America is working, not perfectly, but it is fulfilling the implied promise of its founders. In spite of some recent erosion, we are the strongest nation on Earth, the most politically stable, we have the most dynamic economy, the most independent press, the most benign government, the strongest military, and in spite of all the reactionary forces still loose in our society, we are the freest large nation on the planet. We seem determined to expose our flaws, (and they are many), and to rip them out. But that’s not bad, it’s good! Our current political circus and ideological conflict is not reason to worry or cause to fear, it is proof that things are going right. Oh sure, perhaps it might still go South and embrace the Fascistic and anti-intellectual streak that has always plagued American culture. But I am still optimistic it won’t.

You can point to small, rich countries in Scandinavia or Oceania who may be superficially more prosperous or peaceful, but none of the large “civilized” nations, no former European colonial imperialists, no ex-, or potential superpowers, can come close. Not Russia, not India, not China, not Brazil, not England, Japan, France or Germany….. Well, maybe Canada. But Canada is just the US with no guns and decent health insurance. And the climate sucks.

I feel I am a politically aware person, I keep up with current events and I feel I have a keen sense of history, I’ve certainly seen my share of it. I am not afraid to, or shirk from, criticizing my own country. But if I had the opportunity or need to go live in some other land, to seek exile or refuge, I can’t think of anywhere I’d rather be than right here.

This realization came upon me when I was trying to come up with some alternative to the USA. I realized that with all our problems, we were better off than just about anybody, certainly among the large and powerful nations on the planet. Bur what’s even more important than that, we’re getting better. Every day is a little better than the last, in spite of the Cassandras who complain of imminent disaster, the utopians who fantasize about some impossible future paradise, or the reactionaries who wail of some idealized past that never really existed.

As for our rivals and enemies, I am confident that their violence and intolerance will saddle them with disadvantages that will eventually destroy them.

No hay mal que dure cien anos, ni pueblo que lo soporte.
Jose Marti