11-11-11: A Veterans Day Salute
I consider myself the type of person who always looks at the big picture. Whenever I listen to a politician speak, from the local level here in the Hamptons to the state and national level, I’m always seeing things for how they truly are. These days more than ever, it feels easier and easier to see the real world. And the world is not perfect. There are a lot of liars out there, there is a lot of corruption and there is a lot of horribleness.
But when you peel away everything, when you take a step back and look at the problems that our country is facing today and that we’ve faced in the past, and when you look at the problems other parts of the world are facing, you come to a simple realizations: America is amazing. It is just mind bogglingly awesome. It is brilliance, glory and pride, mixed into one.
We can say what we want to say, we can give our opinions, we can do our best to advance ourselves, and we take pride in and respect success. In America, there is always a chance, always a way you can strive to bring good into the world. And you can always find people to fight that battle right along side you. I truly feel that most people in this nation are trying to do good, trying to make things better, more perfect, even though we already have it so good.
Many people have died so we can have it this way. Throughout our history, our armed forces have given all of us the opportunity to call America free. Without these people, we would not be ruling ourselves like we are today.
We’d be ruled.
Whenever I travel, I feel this more and more clearly. Every single time I leave the country, everybody I meet envies the unapologetic freedoms and leadership of America. Sure, they may have plenty of negative things to say as well, but one thing that they cannot say is that America hasn’t done great things, that it isn’t a country where good has prevailed more often than evil, and where every single person has a chance to succeed, so long as they never give up.
And we don’t ever give up. I think that notion is instilled in all of us, whether your family has been here since the country was founded or you just arrived. No country can say this more than America, and we have our veterans, who sacrificed everything, to thank for it.
America is not perfect. It’s never been easy. And that’s the point. You have to fight for what you believe in, and that’s why, forever, we will continue to achieve great things, and why I can’t think of anywhere else I would rather call my home.
I love this place. When it comes right down to it, this is the greatest country on earth. On this Veterans Day, I salute the men and women who served, and those who continue to serve, to make that so.