When Perfect is the Enemy of Good

Americans are spoiled by abundance and possess a profound lack of gratitude and perspective

The Fourth of July is a time of celebration - celebration of freedom, of independence, of history, of family, and of community. We don our red, white, and blue and wave the American flag with patriotic fervor. We remember those who came before us and salute them for the sacrifices that they made to give us this incredible gift that we call America. At least, that is what it should be.

Lately, we have seen a rising sentiment in our country that the Fourth of July ought to be rejected, that there is nothing to cherish in being an American, and that we need to, instead, hang our heads in shame. There are rampant claims of hypocrisy, claims of continued oppression on the basis of race and gender, and an insistence that American history, itself, disqualifies any suggestion that we have anything to celebrate.

It is an irritating habit. We have become so spoiled in this country by abundance. Abundance of resources, abundance of opportunity, abundance of freedom - we have absolutely no clue what it means to live without these things. We have no clue what it means to truly be oppressed. We run around and cosplay in the costumes of the enslaved, pretending like we’re fleeing North to the Underground Railroad, hiding in closets and underground bunkers. It’s a joke. It reminds me of a rich celebrity who lives in a multi-million dollar mansion having a meltdown about the temperature of their Olympic-sized indoor pool, as if this somehow makes them a victim. How horrible! Won’t someone think of the celebrities!

It is easy to see when it’s an uber-rich celebrity acting spoiled and out of touch. But, people fail to realize that they, too, are some of the richest, most privileged people on this planet and that they, too, are acting like spoiled brats who have absolutely no idea just how good they have it. An income of $30,000 per year places you in the top 1% globally and yet, Americans continually pretend that this country is such a horrible place to live. They suffer from a profound lack of gratitude and perspective.

Now, that isn’t to say that people in America don’t have struggles. It isn’t to say that there aren’t real problems that need to be addressed and solved. It isn’t to say that everything in America is a perfect blend of prancing unicorns, care bears, and butterflies. But, these things must be tempered by an understanding of just how fortunate we are in this country. As Shakespeare said, “Striving to better, oft we mar what’s well.” We cannot allow that to happen. Perfect cannot become the enemy of good. We cannot stomp on the good and throw it away just because it isn’t unblemished.

We certainly have a history in this country, like any other country, that involves all sorts of imperfection and injustice. That is undeniable. But the idea that terrible things only yield terrible outcomes is absolute nonsense. I think about the Biblical story of Joseph, who was sold into slavery by his own brothers, betrayed by his master’s wife, thrown into prison and forgotten by the people who promised to see him freed. For years, he suffered and dealt with this betrayal and abandonment. Yet, there came a time when Pharaoh had a dream that no one else could interpret and Joseph was able to interpret it and warn Pharaoh of an impending famine. Because of this, he was placed second in command to Pharaoh and placed in charge of ensuring enough food was stored away. All of this happened because Joseph was sold into slavery by his own brothers, betrayed by his master’s wife, and was thrown into prison. Had none of that happened, he would not have been in a position to save the people of Egypt and save his own family from the famine.

Even if you aren’t a Christian and you don’t particularly believe in the Bible, these stories still carry an abundance of truth. Good can and does come from bad. I think about my own history. Some of my ancestors, much like Joseph, were sold into slavery by their own kin. They too suffered and went through all manners of horrible things. But, because they endured that, I have been blessed to have been born into the greatest country in the world, where I am married to a beautiful wife, have four beautiful children, live in a great community, have a great job, and have been so blessed that we are in a position to even adopt and provide a loving home for a child who doesn’t have one. And I’m supposed to feel ungrateful?

Don’t misunderstand me. I am not saying that we need to celebrate these awful events or believe that slavery or oppression or whatever else are positive things. That is not what I mean. What I mean is that we find gratitude in the fact that good is able to come from the bad and we quite literally count our blessings. It should be recognized that even though horrible things happened it the past, none of us would even be here had history not played out exactly how it did.

Even now, we find ourselves dealing with all kinds of issues, from inept leadership, to inflation, to immigration issues, to COVID authoritarianism, to cultural rot, to attempts to indoctrinate children with neo-Marxist ideology on the basis of race, gender, and sexuality - the battle is never over. Nothing is ever perfect. But despite that, despite that, DESPITE THAT, our country is still worth embracing, still worth celebrating, and its flag still worth waving. It is still a country worth fighting for while standing up and being proud of what we have accomplished as a nation and the enormous blessing it is to be a part of it.

How dare you spit on the tremendous sacrifices that were made by those who came before us? How dare you take this priceless gift that was purchased with countless lives and throw it away with your snobbish nose in the air. How dare you act so entitled and ungrateful that you ignore the immense value of what we have been given and only seek out its blemishes. Imagine a person crawling through broken glass, giving everything they have, and even sacrificing their own life just to hand you and your children this precious, priceless object and you just throw it away because it has a few scratches on it. Who exactly do you think you are that this country is not good enough for someone like you? How dare you.

Waiting for this country to be perfect before you express any gratitude is absolute foolishness. It is childishness. It is the mentality of a spoiled brat who has no clue how to appreciate the exceptional life he already has. It takes a particular type of blindness to not be able to see the irony in refusing to be grateful for the freedom you have that allows you to express such childish ingratitude. It takes a particular type of egocentrism to believe that you are oppressed when you are among the freest, wealthiest human beings on planet Earth.

The truth is that we are extremely blessed to live in the United States of America. We must not allow ourselves to take that for granted. We have flaws, we have scars, we have an absolute circus of a federal government, but we still live in the greatest country on Earth. We are undoubtedly never more than a breath away from tyranny and we must continually fight to protect our liberty and protect the ideals of our country, but we must not allow that fact to rob us of our gratitude. The fact that problems exist must not be allowed to usurp our consciousness of just how unbelievably fortunate we are to live in a country that so many others are desperate to come to.

The Fourth of July should be about remembering that. It should be about coming together as Americans and finding commonality in our history, in celebrating those who came before us, in celebrating our freedom, and in lifting up the ideals of Americanism. It should not be about seeking out grievances or throwing temper tantrums over blemishes and imperfections. It should be about embracing a more perfect union, not rejecting it because it isn’t a perfect one. It should be about recognizing just how blessed we are to live here, together, at this moment in time. It should be about gratitude and perspective.