By Jim Daly

As a 22-year veteran of the United States Marine Corps, I have been to many places in the world you may not have been. I have been to 27 different countries and island possessions. I have witnessed how they live, so I thank God I was born in America.

I have been to a place where: if five people gather too long on a corner, in a restaurant, or in a bar, it is suspected as an insurrection and will be broken up by force and people end up in jail. I wouldn’t like to live there.

I have been to a place where: Martial law was in effect from midnight until 6 a.m. People on the street were shot without warning or question. I wouldn’t like to live there.

I have been to a place where: The average family earnings were about a dollar per day. There was no unemployment, no welfare, no employment agencies, no food banks or clothing banks, and no public education. A single child’s education cost more than the family earned. I wouldn’t like it there.

I have been to a place where: People were imprisoned for debt until it is paid, so they can work their way out by prostitution or their family can buy them out. I wouldn’t like it there.

I have been to a place where: Education is free, public medical is free, the roads are good, and infrastructure is good, but taxes were 57 percent of your gross annual income, no deductions. Virtually all people worked two or three jobs, just to survive. I wouldn’t like to live there.

America has government unemployment agencies and unemployment programs that both help us find a job and that pay us while we find new employment. There are welfare programs to provide financial support so that we can buy food, clothes, and other necessities when we need help. There are non-government food banks and clothing banks that are allowed by the government to give us additional support when we need it. There are free public education programs to prepare us for productive and satisfying careers.

Our country was built upon individual freedoms, and individual state controls. Not federal control of everything, as in many of those above mentioned countries. We have the right to vote for our local, county, state, and federal representatives who are supposed to represent us in government. We can replace them when we think someone else will do the job better. Not true in many of the countries in the world.

We have the right to say what we want, when we want, where we want. We can protest publicly for or against any policy, program, decision, or group we want to. But, does that really do anything constructive? I believe that protesting is the same as yelling at someone when you are angry. Why not offer to serve rather than protest? Run for office. Volunteer at a service organization: Veterans of Foreign Wars, Elks, Lions, Rotary, churches, Boy Scouts, food banks, or one of the many others. In many of the above countries you can’t do either.

We have the right to move from place-to-place, city-to-city, and state-to-state without interference. We can even visit most countries in the world without interference, if we give our government a little notice. This is not possible in many of the countries in the world, even if one can afford it.

We have national parks, state parks, private parks, and preserves that protect the wildlife and wilderness for future generations to see and enjoy. We are free to visit those parks and preserves, sometimes for a small cost that supports the infrastructure that keeps these places clean and safe. This is not true in many of the countries in the world.

Our country is founded upon a belief in God and his sovereign power, and his gift of power to the governments of the world. But governments are run by men. Imperfect men, so the governments are imperfect. Even our country’s government is imperfect, but it is better than most. It could always be better because it is run by men. But it is pretty darn good compared to others.

I love this country and its government. I thank God every day that I was born, was raised, and live in the United States of America; the greatest country in the world.

Please remember: Many of our young men and women have sacrificed greatly around the world, to protect our country, our rights and freedoms, our allies, and the Flag of the United States of America. I am proud to have been one of them, and would gladly defend this great country again today or any day.

Jim Daly is a retired Marine Corps captain with a long involvement in the Veterans of Foreign Wars. He lives in Aberdeen.