I really enjoy Victor Davis Hanson's military history book. I've even had my daughters read a few of them. My mother found a thoughtful column by Victor Davis Hanson titled: America’s Big Fat Advantage.
He points out how our society allows pretty much anyone to do great things and then concludes with:
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The end of American exceptionalism will come not when we run out of gas, wheat, or computers, but when we end the freedom of the individual, and, whether for evil or supposedly noble reasons, judge people not on their achievement but on their name, class, race, sex, or religion — in other words, when we become like most places the world over.
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