What we should really be thankful for here in America

Now that some things are done and over with, I'm glad that the elections are through. Frankly, to me there's never been worse seasons of the year than the time when people can bring up a more distorted, less optimistic view about how life is in the U.S., or around the world in general. There's also never a more difficult time to make an informed decision about who we should elect into office when often I've found plenty of idiocy and foolishness spoken by both sides, or qualities in the candidates that I wouldn't want sitting in the oval office.
But, when push comes to shove, there's really another season in which I should be preparing for, and should be focusing on the very positive aspects of life which are availible to me. It's when I should be finding reasons to rejoice, and give thanks. Yes, it's none other than thanksgiving. I actually give plenty of thanks now, in my own opinion, rather than that of any other journalists right now, for a number of reasons. I also don't care if other false, or distorted opinion columns have been written similar to my own, because I still feel that there is a point to be had, and a point to be made, about how much there is for us here in America, and how much we often may take for granted.
We have a nation where most of us are employed, in fact, more than 90-95 percent, whereas many other industrial nations throughout Europe have actually have unemployment rates exceeding 10 percent. Isn't that a good situation to be living in? We are leading the world for that matter in how well we are faring economically at the moment.
It's amazing to see how many us have our own cars, enjoy our own computers, our own mp3 players, video game consoles, and so much more. We consider poverty to be in the teens of thousands of dollars per year. But how many people in today's world live on what is less than one dollar per day? Or even live in a home with heating, electricity, or other effective conveniences to keep it clean and comfortable. How many people live in a home without a floor, or without clean water? Or without so much more?
We speak of a war right now that devastates our nation. Considering war, we are doing well for the fact that we don't have a draft in place for both a major conflict and a nation building effort occurring right now. Those who fight in them do so out of their own volunteering. I am thankful that there hasn't been a terrorist attack as devastating on our homeland as that done during September 11, 2001 for a period of nearly a decade. Isn't that worth the thanks that we don't even have to hide or get regularly checked by the military as we travel across the nation's highways, or simply can have a right to say anything from a complaint to cursing about how horrible we feel that our president is doing.
That leads to even greater points when you think about the conditions of the nations that arguably supported or held the terrorists in the first place: theocracies and totalitarian regimes. They wouldn't allow for you to protest the government or to do as many of us freely do about our government without getting some form of penalty or retribution. In some cases, there's even imprisonment, fines, torture, or death, for not falling in line with the beliefs or doctrines that the government deems proper. I am glad that such a right exists here, though I wouldn't bother dropping curse words about even our current lame-duck president, or our president-elect.
It's great to know that we have a personal right to bear arms, and to defend our own property, where as in many nations, this is simply not allowed. We have a right to not have our home or property searched unless the police officer has a warrant. We have a right to remain silent and have a defense attorney, as well as not incriminate ourselves in a court of law, even when charged with a serious crime such as murder. Isn't this worth being thankful for, that we were allowed to live here, in a nation that allows us to have these rights, and had founding fathers recognized them for what they were in their own day. It's great to know that these rights have never fully been undone.
It's great, and worth being thankful that people would defend all of these rights and privileges that we enjoy here in America are fought and died for, and have been fought and died for in the past, through war after war. It's great to know that people wouldn't just give up the rights that make life for us so much better than it was, and still is, for most of the people who live around the world.
It's grateful to know, as I see my roommate applying for citizenship as an immigrant from Russia, that people still come to America, and see it as a greater place than where they once were. They still see it as a place where they can find a greater standard of living, a place where there's more freedom than where they once lived, and a place that's truly a city on a hill to them. I hope that many of you get some thinking in about these facts, and how they truly matter, in the context of what we are celebrating and being thankfuul for this holiday season, because we truly are so blessed.

In my own words,

Benjamin Kemer