The behavior of individuals and nations sometimes challenges our belief that we are a civilized species. When we feel dismayed by what is happening, it is time to remember the good things we do.

Americans donated $484 billion to charities in a recent year. We Americans also volunteer between four and five billion hours of our time each year doing things that make life better for other people and for our community.

In 1917 when young men were drafted to serve in World War I, authorities discovered that the typical draftee had only a sixth-grade education. Today, more than 90 percent of young Americans graduate from high school.

During that same era, the early 20th century, many Americans died prematurely from cholera, diphtheria, influenza, malaria, measles, pertussis, polio, scarlet fever, smallpox, typhoid, typhus, tuberculosis, or yellow fever. We no longer live in fear of those diseases as people were compelled to do in the not-so-distant past.

We can enjoy fresh fruits and vegetables in season or any season. Air conditioning allows us to live and work efficiently in very hot climates. Most Americans are no longer required to perform drudgery work to make a living.

Breakthroughs in understanding how living things develop, how our planet works, and how our universe functions have opened hundreds of exciting job opportunities for young people. We have many problems, but we also have an abundance of people who have the skills to solve problems.

The United States is a functioning democracy. We can place anyone in public office or remove anyone from office by simply voting. That gives us the power to change the laws or amend the Constitution if we deem it necessary.

We live in the best of times, the best that have ever existed. The United States is the wealthiest and most powerful nation that humans have produced, and we are just getting started. The U.S. is still a young nation. 

Jack Stevenson is a retired infantry officer, civil service and private corporation employee who now reads history, follows issues important to Americans, and writes commentary from his home in Pensacola, Florida.