One of the benefits of being in prison (and there are many) is you get to know people from a wide range of backgrounds. I've made friends with Native Americans whose ancestors occupied this country for thousands of years before Columbus 'discovered it.' I've made friends with African Americans who were the direct descendants of slaves. And I've gotten to know many men from Mexico who are firmly convinced that America stole their country - or at least a large portion of it in the Southwestern states.
I empathize with them, but at the same time there is no doubt in my mind that if America did not exist, especially in the last century, the world as we know it today would be radically different, and not for the better.
If there were not an America that was willing to fight in World War I and World War II, we would all be speaking German today (especially France!).
If America did not get involved in the Vietnam war/conflict, the so called 'Domino Theory' may well have come true and today we would be fighting a communist Canada on the North and a communist Mexico on the South.
And if we never had a Ronald Regan who was willing to stand up to the Soviet Union in the 1980s, God only knows where the world would be today. No doubt Al Gore would have still invented the Internet (!!) but it would only have one link, and that would take you to Soviet-Empire.com.
I used to work in a hospital where I cared for many patients who were on their death bed. There is a sound that people make when they are about to die - some call it a death rattle. I can hear the death rattle coming out of America's throat and I know that the time is near.
