Civil War National Cemetery
Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
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World War II U.S. Military Cemetery
Normandie, France
These photos have two things in common:
- They both represent the expenditure of vast amounts of blood and treasure to ensure the survival of freedom.
- They both represent examples of the truth of this aphorism:
Some services are so great that one can repay them only with ingratitude.
− Alexandre Dumas
Why aren’t many Europeans grateful to America? Don’t they remember our aid in two World Wars? Why aren’t many Muslims grateful? Don’t they remember Bosnia, Kosovo, and Kuwait, even if they disregard Afghanistan and Iraq? Worst of all, why do American leftists disparage America and its values? Don’t they know how lucky they are?
Everyone has heard of the basic Murphy’s Law: Whatever can go wrong will go wrong. But the mythical Mr. Murphy described other laws as well. One of these is the Law of Forgiveness:
If you are lucky, you may be forgiven for being wrong, but you will never be forgiven for being right.
I spent most of my working life in a large bureaucracy. I found that those in power grudgingly forgave my mistakes. But what really enraged them were the times I was right and they were wrong. Ego deflation is unbearable for the narcissist. Being proved wrong is unendurable for the self-righteous. Needing help is painful for the arrogant. Being thankful is galling for the ingrate.
Look at the anti-American bias of European “intellectuals.” (Is there a European who doesn’t consider himself an intellectual?) This bias is revealed by Europe’s feeble support of the war against terrorists. It was revealed by derisive comments comparing President Bush to a “sheriff” who rides around, meting out justice as he sees fit. And it is revealed by the almost universal disrespect for President Trump.
Most of all, the bias is revealed by the scornful, contemptuous comments by Europeans, and by their American imitators, that greeted President Bush’s characterization of the 9/11 terrorists as “evildoers” and what they did as “evil.”
After what Europeans saw in the 20th century, they of all people should be intimately acquainted with evil. They of all people should be able to recognize evildoers. After a century of Nazi, fascist, and communist atrocities ‒ including the Holocaust, the Armenian genocide, and the Ukrainian famine ‒ they should be sensitized to evil and be able to identify it promptly.
On the contrary, many Europeans, and their American imitators in the media and academia, are desensitized to evil. When bombers murder and maim hundreds of people in the streets of the Middle East and Europe, they report merely that violence has “broken out.”
To them, mass murder is like acne. It isn’t perpetrated − it just “breaks out.” This expression obscures the necessity of identifying and fighting the murderers. These people can bemoan the violence without bothering to analyze the situation and take sides. They can feel superior without doing anything.
And when President Trump pointed out ‒ correctly ‒ that there was violence on both sides at Charlottesville and elsewhere, they exploded in rage: What, our side isn’t blameless? How dare you!
Even 9/11 was not called an attack but a “tragedy,” as if the Twin Towers fell down in an earthquake. The attackers were not terrorists, much less evildoers. We are told, “One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter.” Really? Just who is this other man? He must be a moral idiot. Thank goodness this attitude wasn’t current during World War II, or we would have heard, “One man’s concentration-camp guard is another man’s freedom fighter.”
By this logic, Jeffrey Dahmer had an “eating disorder,” Ted Bundy had “relationship issues,” and Adolf Hitler was “concerned with minorities.” Who are we to judge? If moral myopia is severe enough, judgment becomes impossible. But like Mr. Magoo, people with moral myopia keep blundering into things and hurting themselves.
Evil, like cancer, must be detected and treated early to avoid disaster. The Europeans’ inability to recognize and combat evil at an early stage led directly to World War II, with at least 40 million unnecessary deaths.
And who rescued them from their folly and amorality? We did. Yes, the “cowboys” who love freedom and refuse to go along with the crowd, especially when the crowd is dead wrong. Yes, the “sheriff” who does indeed ride out to fight those he recognizes as evildoers, even if he has to do so alone.
Of course, his aloneness is due to his courage and clear vision, and to the cowardice and moral blindness of the townspeople. Their failure to accompany him may be rationalized by a hundred arguments, but it remains cowardly and amoral.
Let the Europeans (except the Brits) and their American imitators stay home and criticize from a safe distance. Let them discuss nihilism and attempt to deconstruct everything worthwhile. Let them feel no gratitude for the one-third of a million white men and boys who died fighting the Union, and thereby ended slavery. No, they feel only resentment for slavery, but no gratitude for those who lost their lives or their limbs to end slavery.
America was founded by people with the guts to leave the class system, religious bigotry, and statism of Europe. Although it may be weakening, that independent spirit still motivates us. We kept our religion but discarded the bigotry. Europe discarded the religion but kept the bigotry.
America is the un-Europe. That is why we had the moral and physical courage to rescue Europe twice. What the Europeans find utterly unforgivable is that we rescued them in both World Wars, then helped them rebuild with generous aid. We saved their lives, their nations, their economies, and their civilization. What we couldn’t save was their honor. And that really hurts.
Similarly, America saved the Muslims of Bosnia and Kosovo from ethnic cleansing. We saved the Muslims of Kuwait from becoming part of Saddam’s hellhole. We saved the Muslims of Afghanistan from the totalitarian oppression of the Taliban. We saved the Muslims of Iraq from Saddam’s torture chambers, rape rooms, and poison gas. I believe this is what many Muslims find unforgivable. What we couldn’t save was their pride. And that really hurts.
Closer to home, the Union Army saved American blacks from slavery. More recently, U.S. Marshals and federal troops saved them from segregated, inferior schools. But gratitude requires that people recognize that they needed help, which is painful for the conceited, and that others took risks to help them, which is difficult for the narcissistic.
No wonder many Europeans and their American imitators look down on America. No wonder they ridicule our leaders. No wonder they sneer at our values. They can never forgive us for being right. Old Murphy knew what he was talking about.
I began with two photos. I will close with a third. Look at it ‒ what do you feel? Do you feel anger that force was needed to integrate Southern schools? Or do you feel gratitude that force was used? Both emotions are appropriate, but which prevails?
If anger prevails, we get bitter, resentful ingrates who focus on America’s negative aspects, and thereby contribute to turmoil and instability. If gratitude prevails, we get Americans thankful to live in this imperfect but beautiful land, and thereby contribute to further progress. It’s our choice.
U.S. Marshals escort Ruby Bridges to school
New Orleans, 1960
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