Reflections on the Last Year

December 30, 2001

by Charles E. Perry

The New Year celebration is a time when people tend to look back over the past year and reflect on their failings and successes. This tends to make you somewhat melancholy, I doubt anyone is ever really completely happy with everything they’ve done, and may explain why some drink on New Year’s Eve. Well, be that as it may, I think that we as a nation can look back with some pride over the last year.

Government power changed hands with the inauguration of George Bush, and not a drop of blood was shed. We take that for granted, but it’s really a rare thing in the world. In many places, power goes to the one with the most guns and goons, and a great deal of blood is shed when power changes hands. In too many cases, no one but those in power are allowed guns, and the power doesn’t change hands. So we not only can, but should, take some pride in our bloodless change of power. I just hope we don’t get too apathetic about it and lose it.

We showed signs of going into a recession in the last year, and the economy was shaky at best. As we end the year, we also show signs of climbing back out of it. Proof that a free people can make their own prosperity if given half a chance. We manage to provide ourselves the highest standard of living the world has ever seen, while at the same time feeding a significant portion of the rest of the world. Not too shabby, all in all.

In September we were stunned when terrorists attacked us by hijacking planes and crashing them into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. By the end of the year, we had ousted a criminal government that supported those terrorists, and had the terrorists themselves on the run. Our response began, in fact, before the attacks were even finished, when American citizens on one plane banded together to attack the hijackers and deny them their target.

We discovered in the last year that the average American has the capacity to be a hero. The people on the plane I mentioned are one example, the rescue workers who ran into the burning Trade Towers are another. Then there are examples like the men who carried a wheelchair bound person down 50 flights of steps to safety, or those who refused to abandon handicapped co-workers, staying with them despite certain death. It was a year in which ordinary Americans did extraordinary things, and proved that the American character is still strong and vital.

So, looking back, I think we have the right to feel a sense of pride in our nation. We have our faults, to be sure, but they are far outweighed by our strengths. We have shown ourselves to be a peaceful nation, but one which will fight if necessary. We have shown that we are resilient, and able to bounce back from adversity. God bless you all in the coming year, as He blessed us in the last.

_________________________________________

Charles E. Perry is a freelance writer living in Michigan. He has done a variety of things in his life, including Ward Supervisor at the State of Michigan's Maximum Security Mental Facility. His degree is in accounting, but he discovered writing and now spends his time hunched over a keyboard, hollow-eyed, looking for just the right word. Perry is the author of "How Government Should Work: A Look at the Federalist Papers and the Constitution of the United States," currently pending publication.

Send the author an E mail at Perry@ConservativeTruth.org.

For more of Charlie's articles, visit his archives.