My Gratitude List for 2013

I’ve got a little list – I’ve got a little list.

Sir William Gilbert (1836-1911), The Mikado

I’ve got a little list of things for which I am thankful.

I am thankful:

·        
 I was born in the U.S. with its long traditions of individual freedoms and independent thought;

·         we have an open society,  where we can openly debate controversial issues without resorting to violence;

·         we can conduct this debate without fear of economic  reprisals or discrimination;

·         we can openly criticize our government without being considered bigoted or prejudiced;

·         we have bottom-up enterprising society that  gives us a resilient and flexible economy capable of rebounding from down cycles and bad government;

·         we can practice our faith and express our beliefs without censorship;

·         we are tolerant society capable of adjusting to new and emerging social and cultural norms;

·         we have a checks and balances political system with a guiding constitution  that prevents one-sided governance or dominance by one political party;

·         we have the ability to correct, modify, and change our laws and even repeal them should they prove to unworkable for the majority of our citizens;

·         we have a high-tech, high touch  medical system that most of our citizens approve of despite its obvious faults – high prices and limited access to the vulnerable, poor, and uninsured among us.

·         we remain a world leader in producing technological innovations that benefit and connect all peoples;

·         we believe,  in spite of our political beliefs, conservative, liberal,  independent,  or libertarian, that a strong social net is needed to protect the disenfranchised, and the rest us should pay to keep that net intact.

Tweet:  As a U.S. citizen,  I am thankful for our freedoms, enterprising spirit,  wealth,  tolerance,  technological excellence, and abundance of choices.