Americans Do Not Have a Severe Disease

On July 12th of this year, Claire Shipman of ABC News wrote an article entitled “Gorbachev: Americans Have a Severe Disease.” http://www.abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=2182020&page=1

In it he said, “Do you [America] really think you are smarter than we are?” He went on to say that Americans are arrogant and “…are trying to impose their way of life on other nations.”

Mr. Gorbachev did not state which other nations he referred to. If the former Soviet Union (his own country) is one of those nations, I don’t think I’d be far off base if I were to say, “Yes, America today is smarter than Russia.”

Is it arrogant for me to make such a statement? Marginally. But I believe my response is no more arrogant than the likely utterances of, say, Ramses the Great, or Hannibal, or Alexander, or Queen Elizabeth I, or even Czar Ivan (the Terrible of Holy Russia), all of who bled and drew blood to build, expand, and strengthen empires. Historical archives are stacked to the rafters with the names of such arrogant men and women.

It is fact that no country on Earth is without error or sin, not even America. Many mistakes are made in the formation and growth of a nation. Just as with the raising of a child, no plan is perfect, and neither are all solutions to specific problems ideal. Humans and lands grow and progress by fault. America has grown, prospered and is future-minded; here is where freedom reigns, for now and always. At the same time, unfortunately and shamefully, there are other countries, such as Russia and in the Middle East, who appear to be marching backwards to their primordial origins.

Presently, Russia is in a state of ruin. Doubtless, her citizens—particularly the elderly—would not mind terribly if we would impose our way of life upon them, namely, employment, trade, decent transportation, healthy food (or rather, any decent food); higher education, healthcare, to name only a few. (Granted, our healthcare, political, and industrial systems are overdue for serious restructuring, but, as is, they remain far and away supremely better than what does not exist in Russia today. Insofar as our healthcare is concerned, just ask any of the injured Iraqi children who were brought here by our soldiers and given complimentary medical treatment.)

In the area of benevolence, Mr. Gorbachev should be reminded that, apart from the monetary aid provided by the U.S. Government, aggregate donations from ordinary American citizens like myself topped three-quarters of a billion dollars for the victims and countries devastated by the earthquake and tsunamis of December 2004. Our president ordered the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and other strike groups deployed to assist, as well as American hospital ships. There were also foreign troops from Singapore, Japan, and Australia. And everywhere, in every country and region affected by that tragedy, were volunteer American private enterprises side by side with other nations’ citizens ministering selflessly to the injured, displaced, and deceased.

Where was Russia on that list? I have researched reports and found only inconsequential data. Yet, Mr. Gorbachev made audacious and outrageous accusations against the United States of America.

Mr. Gorbachev broke bread and brokered for peace and nuclear disarmament with one of our greatest presidents. He took pleasure in our 5-star hospitality, which was offered in friendship and trust. He is, therefore, incautious to suggest Americans suffer from a severe disease. For Mr. Gorbachev to make such a remark is no different than a person opening his home to a friend in sincere amity and later the invited friend badmouths his host.

I am of Russian origin and proud of it. But I do not call myself a Russian-American. I am an American. Period. So when I read such baseless material quoted by someone I once admired, I am discomfited with the fact that he and I hailed from the same, once great nation.

Today there is only one great nation on Earth: America. It is to America I have pledged my complete allegiance. Warts and all, I would never scorn, ridicule or belittle the country that lovingly opened her arms to my family and provided them safe haven from the ravages of World War II.

Before he proffers further idle statements, I would suggest Mr. Gorbachev first look at his own country and peoples, because whatever phantom illness he claims Americans are afflicted with is a trifling compared to the unattended ailments and widespread squalid poverty in which a vast majority of Russians are forced to subsist today. And when those in Russia are blessed with escape from their desolate existence, more often than not their final destination is but one port: America.

Mr. Gorbachev, if it is a disease having the privilege of being an American with the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, then may no scientist ever discover a cure.