I can’t recall a time when the United States of America has been more criticized and demonized, both by it’s own citizens and those living in other nations. The list includes but is not limited to: Our President, the war in Iraq, US foreign policy, FEMA’s handling of the Katrina disaster, our CO2 emissions, materialism, excessive health care costs, support of Israel, racial profiling at airports, and the prison at Guantanimo Bay. Listening to Hollywood actors and the “drive by” media would make one think that the United States is the worst country in the world. Pardon me, my friends, but I’ll have none of this!

I was at an economics conference about ten years ago when an economist from the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas presented a paper on the tremendous rise in the standard of living of the average American over the past 100 years. As part of his concluding comments he said, “The United States is the greatest country in the world.” The audience was given time to ask him questions. An economics professor (originally from Iran) said to the economist from Dallas, “Sir, you may conclude that Americans have the highest material standard of living, but I disagree with you that the United States is the greatest country in the world. After all, there are many aspects aside from material things that make a country great.” In response, the professor from Dallas was unapologetic about his conclusion. He responded to the questioner, saying: I conclude that the United States is the greatest country in the world because the statistics show that year after year, of all of the countries in the world, the United States is the first choice of immigrants.” The man sat down. The audience was silent. The professor from Dallas had made his point.

Whether motivated by self-hate, envy, or stupidity, it is always fun to kick the “big dog.” Wal-Mart is the most criticized retailer. Microsoft draws heat as the most criticized software company. Except for people who live in New York, almost everyone wants to see the Yankees lose. The United States is in the same category. If one values material wealth, political freedom, economic freedom, religious freedom, and equality of opportunity, the United States stands alone as the best country in the world. The United States is rich, it’s powerful, its people are successful and everyone knows it. As such, the United States is the most criticized country in the world.

During a recent trip to India a friend of mine, a young man in his early twenties, pulled me aside to ask me a question. He is an educated man, working on his MBA. He’s a loving and decent fellow. He pulled me aside so no one could hear him and said, “Hey, I’ve got to ask you a question. My friends and I talk about world affairs all the time, and there is something I really need to know. Tell me the truth. Can George Bush and the American Government cause hurricanes and earthquakes to occur any time they want, anywhere on the earth?” This was not a joke. The man actually thought it was in the realm of possibility that the United States of America could control the world’s weather! As Americans we sometimes underestimate the power and authority that the world’s citizens ascribe to us.

In the mind of the majority of the planet’s citizens, the United States is the cause of most of the world’s problems. Because of the United States Muslim factions hate each other in Iraq. Despite the fact that these religions zealots have been fighting for centuries, I’ve heard people say that when we leave Iraq any bloodshed that occurs “falls squarely on the shoulders of the United States for messing things up.” I guess we’re the reason Palestinians and Lebanese are fighting each other in the streets. If there is a poor country anywhere in the world with a dictator and broken down economy, it’s our fault. We’re the main reason the world is polluted and we don’t even give a damn. Kids work in sweatshops because Americans buy the tennis shoes they make. People starve because they’ve gone away from natural seeds and purchase genetically altered seeds from large American corporations. I could go on and on, for days and days. Heck, we also cause earthquakes. I didn’t know that one before my last trip to India.

It is my firm belief that The United States of America has been a source of incredible good in this world since it’s inception. We have made mistakes in the past and will make them in the future, but on balance we have done far more good in this world than we have done bad. In a bloody Civil War we sorted out for ourselves issues of race and human rights. More Americans died in the Civil War than any military action in our nation’s history, but we ended slavery for good. The French, who love to criticize us, would be speaking German under Nazi rule today if young American men and women had not sacrificed their lives on the battlefields of Normandy. Likewise, the Japanese and most nations in Western Europe depended upon us to prop up their economies after World War II. South Koreans are indebted to us for their freedom, yet they give aid and comfort to the tyrant Kim Jung Il in North Korea. Even citizens of Kuwait owe their freedom to Americans soldiers who traveled half way around the world to kick out a foreign invader while their nearby Arabic brothers sat on their hands.

For my readers who judge this blog as a patriotic diatribe, let me conclude by saying that we have many challenges and problems in the United States. We’re not perfect by any means, but Americans are good people and we remain idealistic about how marvelous this world can be. We are the world’s eternal optimists and we are just and caring people. We can’t do much about jealous and frustrated foreigners who criticize our country, but when we see our fellow citizens criticizing the United States we can challenge their assertions and set them straight. They may not agree with us, but they will know that there are some of us who still believe that the United States of America is a very special place indeed.

January 26, 2001 was a mild, sunny day in the city of Bhuj. Jaya had sent her two young boys off to school and her husband had gone to a factory where he was employed as an electrician. Later that evening the family was going to visit her brother’s family to celebrate the second birthday of his son. Joyfully, Jaya prepared some food for the occasion, drawing water from the pump outside the house. Suddenly the ground broke like shattered glass and Jaya saw her house, the homes of her neighbors, and everything else in sight swallowed up by the earth.

The great earthquake in the western state of Gujarat, India had begun and Bhuj was at the epicenter. Weeks later, when the death toll was final, the official count would be 19,727 souls. The property damage would exceed five billion dollars. Ninety percent of the homes in Bhuj were destroyed and in the capital city of Ahmedabad (pop 4.5 million), more than 50 multistory buildings collapsed, killing hundreds of people.

Jaya ran to the house of a neighbor where she heard screams. She was able to free her neighbor and baby from some bricks and timbers. Only then did she hear the crying and suffering of hundreds of others. Hours later she would realize that her life had been spared only because she was outside at the pumping water when the quake began. After instinctfully pulling several people from their homes she thought of her boys and ran to the school. The building had completely collapsed, its concrete walls and roof smashing the children. A few had survived, but most were buried among the stones and mortar. Jaya would soon learn the devastating truth and before the day was done she would hold in her arms the lifeless bodies of both of her sons. Her husband had been crushed to death by a machine he was repairing. She was later to learn that her oldest son had survived the initial shock but had been killed during an aftershock when he went back into the school to save his younger brother.

The disaster teams arrived with tents, food and water. The dead were creamated, their funeral pyres glowing in the winter sky. Jaya’s sorrow was incomprehensible, but she struggled on. There were no jobs and she was a widow; not an enviable state for an Indian woman. The months dragged on but somehow she got up every morning, day after day.

Six years have passed since Jaya’s worst day. Jaya has relocated and now lives in a little village near the city of Rajkot. The local Rotary club has built small, attached houses for the families of many earthquake victims. The village is located adjacent to an industrial park, where Jaya and others have found employment. Her home consists of one small room and a small toilet block. What her little house lacks in amenities it makes up for in cleanliness. She pays a small portion of her income toward the eventual purchase of her home. While grateful for her little home, the hurt of losing her husband and boys is forever within her. She is alone now and it is unlikely that she will ever remarry.

A television journalist from Austrailia has come to the village to do a follow-up story about the survivors of the great Gujarat earthquake. They interview Jaya’s new neighbor, who has a son with multiple sclorosis. The film crew have been complaining to their Indian hosts who are members of the Rajkot Rotary Club. Their accomodations have not been what they have grown to expect in most places they’ve visited. They’ve all gotten sick on this trip and they’re jet-lagged and tired, looking forward to getting back to their families in Austrailia. As professionals they do their jobs, but they are grouchy, to say the least.

Many in the village have lost family members, but Jaya is interviewed because the loss of her entire family is extraordinary. As the Austrailian television crew interviews Jaya, they become immersed by her story. Curt, a large, hulking fellow who serves as the crew’s cameraman, has been particularly gruff on this trip. He didn’t want to come to India and has looked forward to nothing else but getting back to Austrailia. As Jaya tells the story of the loss of her husband and boys, her relocation to the small village and her gratefulness for her small home, Curt tears up. India has finally impacted him. He asks one of the local Rotarians if he can give Jaya 500 rupees. This is only about $12 US dollars, but for Jaya it is a week’s pay. The Rotarian encourages him to make the gift, and the crew withdraws to give Curt a private moment with Jaya.

Knowing that Jaya’s material possessions consist of just a few dishes, a small bed, and a tattered photo of her husband and boys, Curt hands her a 500 rupee note. Jaya smiles at Curt and thanks him. Then she says, “Curt, I am so grateful to Rotary for making it possible for me to live in this nice little house. Please give the money to Rotary so that they can help someone else.” Curt knows that he will abide by Jaya’s wish and for the first time he isn’t worried any more about Jaya.

Emerging from Jaya’s house with red eyes and a smile on his face, Curt gets in the van with the rest of his crew and they start down the road. He looks back at the smiling, frail woman dressed in her little sari, waving goodbye. As Jaya’s form fades in the rising dust, the big fellow looks at his fellow Austrailians and says, “Gentlemen, today for the first time in my 45 years on this earth, I learned what human dignity is all about.”

With the beginning of the spring semester at Hubbard State University, the weather has been anything but mild. After a warm November and December temperatures have dipped below zero, reminding most Hubbard residents of the “good old days” when the frigid months of January and February were to be feared. During the past two weeks the morning lows have been around -15 degrees Fahrenheit. That doesn’t mean much to Floridians, but to Hubbardites it means school busses that won’t start, water pipes that freeze and break, and no choice but to wear sweatpants, sweaters and slippers inside the house. Engineering Major Marcus Harnack is oblivious to the cold, but not because of his obsession for academic pursuits. You see, Marcus Harnack has an incredible distraction, the beautiful brown girl who works in the chemistry lab.

Marcus first noticed her two weeks ago when he was glancing into classrooms looking for his chemistry professor. There she was, working as a lab assistant for another professor. As he peeked in the door she smiled at him, her beautiful white teeth contrasted against her brown skin. Awkwardly he asked if his professor was in the classroom, only to realize the stupidity of his statement. After all, it was a small room and it was obvious that his professor was not present. While Marcus was inwardly embarrassed about this slipup, she didn’t seem to notice. Since then Marcus has noticed her around the science building, but she is not in any of his classes. He’s found out that her name is Subani De Silva, a sophomore student from Sri-Lanka majoring in Chemistry/Pre-Med. Everyone seems to like her and there is another salient fact that has come to Marcus’ attention; she is always hanging around other girls, meaning that she probably doesn’t have a boyfriend!

Subani is a bona fide distraction for the always studious Marcus. This girl is beautiful! When she walks down the hall, her dark brown hair flipping off her shoulders, it drives him mad! The problem is, Marcus is a bit shy, particularly where women are concerned. Other than his two clumsy appearances at the junior and senior prom, Marcus didn’t date much in High School. While he got along with his friends, he wasn’t part of the “in crowd” and despised the social aspects of high school. The day Marcus graduated he walked away from Hubbard High vowing never to go near the place again. Even the job at the foundry was better than High School.

Too shy to phone or speak directly to Subani, Marcus decided to take the coward’s way out and send her an email. No one will ever accuse Marcus of being an author. After writing and re-writing his email letter for over an hour, Marcus’ best, boldest, poetic effort looked like this:

“Dear Subani: You might remember a couple of weeks ago when I was looking for my professor in the chemistry class. Well, that was me, Marcus. My last name is Harnack and I’m from right here in Hubbard. I hear that you are from Sri Lanka. I don’t know much about that part of the world. Well, maybe I’ll see you around in the chemistry department soon. — Marcus”

The second after he sent the email, Marcus experienced immediate “correspondence remorse”. “That email was so dumb”, thought Marcus. ”She will never write me back.”

In her dorm Subani sits at her computer waiting for the cafeteria to open. She still hasn’t gotten that cute guy off her mind since he stuck his head in her classroom two weeks ago. She knows his name is Marcus and he is from Hubbard. Someone told her that he works in a foundry. Her parents would die if they knew she was even on speaking terms with a foundry worker. In Sri Lanka, medical doctors, scientists and engineers would be the only acceptable courtship candidates for a De Silva daughter. Suddenly Subani’s computer beeps and she goes to her email. She reads the note from Marcus and her heart leaps with excitement! She stands up from her chair, no longer hungry. “Oh, my God, he knows I exist! What am I going to do now?” she exclaims.

Since moving to Minnesota 31 years ago I have seen an incredible range of ambient temperature. The lowest temperature I’ve witnessed was a December night about 25 years ago when it was –37 F (-38C). That was the night I learned a valuable lesson; that diesel engines shut down when it gets that cold. The highest temperature I’ve witnessed in Minnesota was +105 F (+40.5 C) about 10 years ago.

As I sit at my computer this Sunday morning and look at the snow on the ground, it is – 10 degrees Fahrenheit (- 23 C) outside my window. In this context of bone-chilling cold, this week the Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change released a report indicating that it believes with 90 % certainty that the rising of global atmospheric temperatures is primarily due to the activity of humans. That certainty rating has risen to 90% from 65% when the same scientists met four years ago. The group consists of some 500 scientists and government representatives.

Like most of you, I’m not a scientist. I have to trust others to do the scientific research and hope that they are both accurate and credible in their findings. I would feel better about the group if they didn’t have the word “intergovernmental” in their name because I’m innately suspicious of the word “government,” no matter what prefix is attached to it. My life experience has taught me that governments have an agenda and they usually involve increased state control at the expense of individual rights. Given my skepticism, when journalistic sources like the Economist (a British Publication that has proven to be incredibly impartial over the years) analyze the work of these scientists and determine that we should be concerned about global warming, I sit up and take notice, despite the fact that there is a boiler in my basement that is going to cost me plenty when the next utility bill comes.

As a citizen of the world I am concerned. I realize that we may already have passed some sort of “tipping point” where it will be impossible to correct the situation. As an economist and realist, I’m not sure anything will actually be done to reduce CO2 emissions for at least fifty years. In the United States and other wealthy countries we have the ability, but perhaps not the will, to do something about CO2 emissions. However, nations in the developing world, the largest of which are China and India, might have the will, but don’t have the ability to do anything about global warming. I’ve been to China once and have been to India numerous times. The air pollution in both places is literally throat choking to the point of disbelief.

While the US has received a lot of flak for not signing the Kyoto Treaty and India and China have both signed, paper and ink is cheap. The fact is that neither of these developing industrial giants can economically afford to honor their pledge to reduce CO2 emissions. Both are highly industrialized with huge populations. Furthermore, their consumption and production of automobiles is just starting to take off, despite pungent pollution in major cities. No matter what reduction of CO2 emissions is accomplished by the developed countries, until both China and India have prospered enough to afford the existing technology to reduce pollution there is not much hope for a reduction of total worldwide CO2 emissions. It will be fifty years until the Chinese and Indians are able to afford and adopt the latest pollution reduction technology.

Scientists have a role; namely to tell us what is happening. Policy makers (Government) have the responsibility of listening to scientists and implementing necessary changes. Governments act slowly and sometimes irresponsibly. Given the fact that most governments are reactive rather than proactive and that the developing world can’t afford the technology, I’m not confident that anything will be done soon to significantly reduce the planet’s CO2 emissions.