The Cultural History Of A New Day

A skeptic looked askance at a new invention, and sniffed, "Of what possible use is it?" Came the reply: "Of what use is a newborn baby?"

The fact is that every human being alive is the beneficiary of cultural adaptations that have allowed his or her ancestors to defeat a hundred thousand years of evolutionary challenges. The achievements of each race relate in large measure to environmental issues, and to the extent that each race has failed to live up to its potential. each has failed in that way.

But the issue of race has, in any event, little to do with the survival of each individual person. Likewise, the same must be said of the merits of each individual person. It is as unimportant to take pride in one's race as to take pride in the fact that one was merely born in a particular country. It is one's own ideals, arising from various national and other sources, and personal efforts that matter. This is the American way, in my view. It is the new day that matters, and not the past.