I’m Proud to Be an American

I’m proud to be an American.

And, I’m proud to be a capitalist.

But, dang it, can’t we put politics aside just for a bit?

However this Russian invasion of Ukraine turns out, it was us – the Americans – who led the EU and NATO into a blitz of sanctions that is giving the Russians pause.

proud to be an AmericanI have a story, via a friend of mine. He was part of an economic delegation in 1988, just a couple of years before the Soviet Union imploded, meeting with the Russians as part of a trade agreement. He arrived to the meeting with a single assistant and his then relatively new Compaq portable computer. The Russians arrived with boxes and boxes of printed documents and 11 or 12 staff all scurrying about.

At the first break, my friend’s counterpart from the Russian team approached my friend and said simply this:  You’ve already won, haven’t you?

I’ve always remembered this story, and it comes back to me now, watching the Ukrainians with loads of help from the West stifling the Russians.

The INEFFICIENCIES of communism and dictators both is startling.

For all its ills, capitalism WORKS!

And, how we’ve shut down the Russian economic system is incredible.

China… you watching?