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Written by Dr. Jack Wheeler
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Wednesday, 30 August 2006 |
Oh well, oh well, I feel so good today,
We just touched ground on an international runway
Jet propelled back home, from overseas to the USA.
Did I miss the skyscrapers, did I miss the long freeway?
From the coast of California to the shores of Delaware Bay
You can bet your life I did, ‘till I got back to the USA.
Looking hard for a drive-in, searchin' for a corner café
Where hamburgers sizzle on an open grill night and day
Yeah, and a juke-box jumpin' with records like in the USA.
Well, I'm so glad I'm livin' in the USA.
Yes. I'm so glad I'm livin' in the USA.
Anything you want, we got right here in the USA.
--Chuck Berry, "Back In The USA," 1962.
Two months traveling around the world through 15
countries. Back home at last.
The best deal in international travel is a round-the-world
ticket with an airline alliance like One World (British Air, American, etc.) or
Star Alliance (United, Lufthansa, Singapore, etc.). If your destination is anywhere near half-way around, then such a
ticket is much cheaper than a regular round-trip fare (and you can make up to
15 stops along the way).
But that's about the only thing that's cheap out there. It's extraordinary how the price of most
everything is more expensive throughout the world than here in the US.
A regular steak in a regular Tokyo restaurant is $85, a
hamburger $35. Teen-age Jackson
eyeballed a Playboy magazine at the Narita airport and asked how much: $28.
OK, that's Japan.
But there's no electronic gadget - digital camera, videocam, laptop, et
al - in Hong Kong that you can't get cheaper at CompUSA or 47th
Street Photo.
We went through over a dozen countries, and hotels in almost
all charge $10 or more an hour for an Internet connection. Motel 6's in the US offer it for free.
Gasoline most anywhere, Europe or Asia, is $5 or more a
gallon. Even a pint of Guinness costs
more in a Dublin pub than one at the Irish Times here on Capitol Hill.
Realize that the incomes
of folks elsewhere is much less than here.
The average Japanese income is 30K a year - how many $35 hamburgers do
you think they can afford? In
lunatic-expensive Hong Kong, the average income is 33K.
With a small handful of exceptions like Luxembourg, every
European country is below Hong Kong's, many way below.
Something to consider next time you hear a neighbor complain
about how expensive things are.
Jackson and I had such a wonderfully memorable time
everywhere we went, met wonderfully friendly people, and not once encountered
any antipathy towards America - not even in Pakistan or France.
Once again, such an experience makes you appreciate just how
big the world is, a place of endless wonders.
But most of all, for an American, it makes you appreciate your own
country.
We need to take the time to do so. Far too many people are far too upset over far too many things in
America. Whether they are conservative
or liberal or whatever, they are always citing a litany of complaints.
I'm sure there were Greeks who belly-ached during 5th
Century Periclean Athens, or Romans who did the same in the Age of
Augustus. And I'm just as sure there
were plenty of things to legitimately belly-ache about.
But if those Greeks or Romans didn't periodically stop and
deeply appreciate their place in history, their unbelievable luck to be a
participant in one of history's great moments, they really speared themselves
in the foot.
We live in the greatest, richest, most powerful and
influential country history has ever seen.
What impossible historical luck it is that we do. Take the time to revel in that good
fortune. Take the time to appreciate,
to deeply enjoy, being an American.
Summer's just about over - one long weekend and that's
it. What better way to end it than by
appreciating America? Yes, it's good to
be back in the USA.
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