Kinsler: The land of opportunity
For medical reasons, mostly mine, Natalie and I have been off the Fairfield County radar for almost a year. But the other day we found ourselves discussing Natalie’s famed impromptu dinner parties and the very careful language discipline, as I’ve termed it, that’s become necessary to maintain social relationships that don’t involve firearms.
As have most Americans, we’ve gotten pretty good at this sort of thing over the last few years, and we’ve hosted gatherings with as many as six friends, all of whom have markedly different political philosophies. Fueled by Natalie’s legendary baking, everyone would yak for hours, instinctively steering around politics but willing to take on everything else.
I mention this because the other day I was poking through the 500 or so musical selections I’ve purchased or filched off YouTube over the years I came upon “Only in America,” 1963, sung by Jay and the Americans.
Its lyrics still hold true.
Ours is the only nation created as a liberal democracy, one in which, by law, dissent is tolerated, where classes, castes, slavery, and titles of nobility are expressly prohibited, where any religion is okay provided you don't interfere with any other or cause a public nuisance, and where you can say and publish most anything.
And where a classy girl like you can fall for a poor boy like me.
But it's also a nation that strictly enforces its laws, where business practices can be devoid of corruption (thus utterly amazing Asian and Middle Eastern engineers I’ve met,) where the mayor's son can and will have his illegally-parked car towed away, where banks must follow state and federal rules, and where any legal business contract can be enforced by an impartial and non-bribable court of law.
Our universities can be devoid of corruption so much that many other nations have an "American" university, where professors can't be bribed and academic cheating is not tolerated.
Here’s a test of a free nation: I could, if I wished, rent a store in downtown Lancaster, Ohio and sell communist, socialist, anarchist, and fascist books and newspapers. Government officials at every level will ignore me provided I pay my taxes and don't create a fire hazard. Try that in Egypt, Russia, Venezuela, Indonesia, China, Korea, or Pakistan.
We’ve been through a tough stretch lately, and there’s a good deal of work to do. But only in America can a kid who’s washing cars take a giant step and reach right up and touch the stars.
So there.
Mark Kinsler, kinsler33@gmail.com, continues his protracted journey back to Health Land, aided by Natalie and a pair of skeptical alley cats. We all live in a little house in Lancaster that dates back to Wyatt Earp.
This article originally appeared on Lancaster Eagle-Gazette: Kinsler: The land of opportunity
