The Blessing of a Long Memory

is that you remember how much worse it’s been, and how much worse it could be. Despite our frustrations with the war, we have repeatedly avoided catastrophe. Despite our oafish, incompetent government, we enjoy peace and freedom at home. Despite our economic anxiety and uncertainty, no one is selling their Escalade for three dollars or a square meal. Memorial Day is humbling in the virtuous meaning of that word — working against undue despair and undue optimism. It is also a reminder that to fail to correct our course before things really go poorly is to squander our inheritance of sacrifices past.