Allow me to respond to the eloquent letter from Mr. Wolter, the young student at Oglethorpe. The idealism and hope evident in his letter should always be expected and lauded from our youth.
It is such idealism and frankly naivete that is leveraged mainly by the left party to dupe those with little real life experience to pull the lever for their candidates.
It is never popular with the young and hopeful of our nation to suggest that there are real threats in the world and that modern history has evidenced that we are the world’s best hope and that hope is based on our moral message and our economic and military strength.
It seems now that at least for Mr. Wolter (and he is not alone) even stating that we are a unique people is now passé.
Without going too long, some history is needed. No other country before the USA was ever built at such a large scale and rose to such international power in such a compressed time frame. Remember, China has been around for over 5,000 years.
This happened specifically because of the people who left their homelands, either for freedom from persecution, flight from poverty, or a desire for adventure.
We own our share of atrocities, to be sure. Our forefathers were not saints and they shared in the bad and the good.
But, it cannot be denied that a country that settled the greater part of North America basically in one century and then militarily and economically forced its will on the greatest despots and mass murderers known to human history and freed millions of people from all over the world are a unique and special people.
We have given more, spent more, protected and saved more than any other nation ever.
Now it is up to our youth to learn who we were, who we are now, and decide who we will be in this century and beyond.
If you choose to ignore the sacrifices made by those who braved the frontier and those who followed their dreams and those who died defending people who they knew not, then of course you will not see the greatness of our country.
The world is not full of butterflies and flowers. There are bad people who wish to take what your and my ancestors strove to pass on to us. Honor their memory by recognizing that we are a unique people and at this moment in history we do hold the highest position of power on earth.
Most great nations in the past fell from greatness due mainly to hubris and a failing of moral standards. They invited their demise at the hands of the hungry or the murderous through self-indulgence and, yes, an assumption that they could not be overrun.
When we speak of American Exceptionalism, this is not hubris, but rather a reminder of our place in the world today.
The world needs a leader. Even a commune has leaders; it is human nature. If not the USA, then whom?
Alan Felts
Peachtree City, Ga.
