Life in America, then and now

I come from immigrant stock and think often of my great-grandparents, who refused to learn English and suffered for it. I think of how their son went to work as a teenager during the Great Depression for a couple of nickels an hour, and ended up with a pretty nice life after working 47 years in a steel mill (during which time he missed only one day of work). I think of these family members at the strangest times, such as when I am in a work meeting or sitting around a table with good friends and colleagues, wondering how I won the jackpot in life. Well, a lot of it has to do with being born in the right place.

I am far from a flag-waving patriot, but there are some truths about the US which must be acknowledged. Warren Buffett - who’s got some pretty crazy ideas about the world, but does know a thing or two - puts it pretty well:

We’ve had a number of recessions in this country; in fact, we had a Great Depression, we had world wars. And throughout, the genius of the American economy, our emphasis on a meritocracy and a market system and a rule of law has enabled generation after generation to live better than their parents did. And, I mean, most of the people in this room, practically all of them last night, lived better than John D. Rockefeller lived. I mean, all kinds of things have happened. And in the 20th century alone, the standard of living of the average American went up seven for one. There’s never been a period like it in history. And that’s not an accident. It’s because we unleash human potential and will continue to do that in the future.

via Chris Yeh