Yes, America the Beautiful!
To the editor:
I read the letter in the July 21st issue of the Star-Herald, from Howard E. Worthington of Mapleton, titled “America the Beautiful?” with considerable dismay, and would like to refute at least some of his statements.
• Crime rates in America of all sorts have dropped since hitting a high in the 1970s. (See FBI Crime in the U.S. statistics.)
• Wars, earthquakes, and floods, and other acts of nature are no more frequent than before. USGS data reports approximately 18 large earthquakes (>7.0) occurred every year over the last century. In fact, the number of quakes is down in the last several years. Ditto for other acts of nature — there is no long-term trend supporting the belief that disasters are more prevalent – they are just better reported in the news media.
• The financial and employment situation of the nation, while not good, certainly is not as bad as the Great Depression of the 1930s, and not much worse than other recessions and depressions of the 1980s, 1890s, and 1870s. Depending on which economist you believe, it may already be showing signs of turning around.
• Corruption in the U.S. government is less than nearly anywhere else in the world. Did you have to pay a bribe to get your last driver’s license? In half of the world, you would have had to do so. Higher level corruption is always with us — someone is always willing to be bought when their price is met. Thanks to our investigative journalists and free press, this gets found out more and more often.
• That anyone, much less America, has controlled the world is an illusion. All anyone can do is continue to make their way in the world, day by day, and work for a better tomorrow for themselves and their heirs.
The United States of America is still one of the best places on Earth to live — why else do you think so many people try to immigrate here, legally or otherwise? President Franklin Delano Roosevelt said, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” I would add those that try to scare us into giving them “special powers for the duration” to that.
Mapleton