We are in strange times. After a massive shut down of the economy and hunkering down in our houses for almost 6 weeks, we will soon be able to get our hair cut! Seriously. I just got a text from my stylist asking me if I wanted to set an appointment for May 22. Heck yeah! Finally, something normal.
I say that just half in jest. But honestly, let’s put this latest crisis in perspective by comparIng it to past crises. I’m reading the latest Erik Larson book, The Splendid and the Vile, which is about how Winston Churchill dealt with WWII and specifically prepared for the Battle of Britain. Imagine hundreds of thousands of planes flying overhead every night and dropping bombs on you and your city, people dying in your neighborhood every day.
Remember the story of Anne Frank? She was a Jewish girl in Amsterdam. She and her family hid in silence in an attic for 2 years before the Germans found them, then she died in a concentration camp.
The Jews were enslaved by Pharaoh and Egypt for centuries before God delivered them out of bondage. Pharaoh killed the first born of the Jews, for goodness sakes. Imagine dealing with that tragedy.
Blacks in America were enslaved until we fought a Civil War to free them at the cost of more than 600,000 dead Americans from the north and south. Southern states kept them in bondage through Jim Crow laws for another hundred years.
The American Revolution, the War of 1812, the Civil War, WWI, WWII, Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon, etc. While America played a part in these wars, the civilians in other warring countries paid a much higher price than our nation. In fact, our economy boomed during and after most of those conflagrations. Their peoples suffered, starved, survived horrific acts of war, and died. Many emerged much less free and secure than the American soldiers who helped fight their wars.
Of all the places I’d want to be at the tail end of a pandemic, it’s America. So, be thankful. If you were in any other nation on this earth, your lot would likely be much worse.
God bless America!
Stay safe,
Hon. Kevin M. Smith
Paid for by the Committee to re-elect Judge Kevin Mark Smith 