Hindsight is always 20/20 (pun intended) or so they say, and it's never truer than when using hindsight in historical terms. For example lets look at American culture half a century ago. I'm 64, and English but have strong memories of 1971. The counter culture of the sixties hippies had collapsed and it was time of global strife. Inflation and unemployment Peace and love mutating into revolutionary movements. Student riots. But in main street America the people were more united than divided. The fruits of the civil rights pioneers taking root in the home of the brave.

After all American men had recently walked on the moon. The nation had known hard times before but the wit and grit of the people always saw her rise. China was an afterthought. Her enemy was the USSR. For all the injustices that still existed, the prevailing mindset of the USA was we are strong and we are free. Free to live unbothered lives. To move up and get a bite at the American dream. But only a fool or the seriously uninformed could think that in 2021 (even subtracting the insanity wrought on the U.S. by the overreaction to Covid 19 from the equation)

When the teens of today reflect as grandparents in 2071 will the American Empire even exist? Empires have fallen throughout history, Rome, Assyria my own British empire. They all fell for the same reasons. They grew weak and lazy. Thinking that the gift of power was there's as a right.

I pray that as I lie under earth in 2071 that the land of the free will not just exist but still be the beacon of hope she has been since 1776. Deus Vult.