DEAR EDITOR:

The Vindicator’s first Sunday edition of this new year contained five letters to the editor that portrayed the writers’ obvious depressive vision of the political landscape.

Of the total six letters, only one appeared to be well constructed and thoughtful; one of the other five from a frequent writer displayed a reflexive and visceral bias without a glimmer of optimism.

There is and has always been much reason for looking at the bright side of our future and too much looking back at the people and events of those we dislike. Let’s look at the things that project an optimistic future.

First, America is great. It was uniquely founded by a written constitution that, at the time, was singularly in writing. Since its adoption, more than 230 years ago, it remains a continual guiding light not only for us, but for the world that attempts to emulate it.

Second, our freedoms enshrined in our founding documents, especially the freedom of religion, to pursue our choices of employment, education, businesses and investment opportunities, have lifted more people out of poverty (as a percentage of the overall population) than any other country has even attempted to achieve.

It is no surprise that we are, and deserve to be, the envy of the world — not from a superiority perspective, but from an instructive posture. It would behoove others to emulate our successes through the prism of freedom.

Throughout history, most people have and many still do, live under tyranny. Our system of electing the two highest executives in that branch of government assures that the “tyranny of the masses” does not prevail in selecting our presidents and vice presidents by use of the Electoral College as required in Article II of the Constitution.

Yes, investing in our future takes diligence, and we have the freedom to continue to keep America great with individual rights and without surrendering them to our leaders. Happiness results from optimism, and we have every reason to look forward to a bright future.

ATTY. CARL RAFOTH

Boardman