Perspective from the 19th Hole is the title I chose for my personal blog, which is meant to give me an outlet for one of my favorite crafts – writing – plus to use an image from my favorite sport, golf. Out of college, my first job was as a reporter for the Daily Astorian in Astoria, Oregon, and I went on from there to practice writing in all my professional positions, including as press secretary in Washington, D.C. for a Democrat Congressman from Oregon (Les AuCoin), as an Oregon state government manager in Salem and Portland, as press secretary for Oregon’s last Republican governor (Vic Atiyeh), and as a private sector lobbyist. This blog also allows me to link another favorite pastime – politics and the art of developing public policy – to what I write. I could have called this blog “Middle Ground,” for that is what I long for in both politics and golf. The middle ground is often where the best public policy decisions lie. And it is where you want to be on a golf course.
New York Times editorial writers, on the occasion of America’s 250th birthday, came up with a list of 25 reasons to be optimistic about America’s future.
For this blog, I used the same headline the NY Times did, so I attribute the words to the newspaper.
As I looked at the list, it struck me that Donald Trump, the U.S. president who wants to be king, has trampled on most of them. At one point, I thought about describing his conduct on each of the 25, then I decided that wasn’t worth it.
Just know that Trump has shown he cares only about himself, not America.
Below, one day after our 250th birthday, I repeat the NY Times list. Kudos to the editorial writers for focusing on the positive, not the negative.
*********
FROM THE TIMES
The United States has had a tumultuous history, and there have always been reasons to worry about the country’s future. The frosted glass of memory produces nostalgia for bygone eras.
Freedom and prosperity are never guaranteed, but it’s a mistake to bet against America. That’s as true now as when the country was founded 250 years ago.
Here are 25 reasons to believe the best days are still ahead for the United States:
1
The U.S. remains a powerhouse in science. It has received almost 300 Nobel Prizes in chemistry, physics and medicine — more than three times any other country. It leads the world on clinical trials for experimental drugs and accounted for more than half of the global pharmaceutical market last year.
2
The U.S. boasts the top universities in the world. More than a million foreign students traveled to the U.S. for their college education in the 2024-25 academic year, far more than any other country. That contributed $55 billion to the U.S. economy.
3
Life expectancy reached a new high this year, despite dipping in recent years, and obesity rates are falling. That’s largely thanks to the GLP-1 revolution, which is showing enormous promise to address a wide range of chronic diseases.
4
Cancer is becoming less deadly. More than 70 per cent of people with a diagnosis now survive at least five years, compared with about half in the 1970s. That’s partly because tests are better at catching dangerous tumors early, and treatments themselves are improving. Since the 1990s, the five-year survival rate for late-stage diagnoses has more than doubled for all cancers, from 17 per cent to 35 per cent.
5
U.S. innovation is reaping extraordinary medical breakthroughs. Cutting-edge genetic medicine, still in its infancy, keeps producing therapy options for once untreatable illnesses, such as sickle cell disease and Duchenne muscular dystrophy.
6
Advancements in mRNA technology are making it easier for biotech companies to develop new vaccines, providing a powerful tool to quickly defend against new pathogens and create personalized therapies.
7
The U.S. dollar is the world’s undisputed reserve currency and will remain so for the foreseeable future. About 57 per cent of all global foreign exchange reserves are in dollars, a testament to the stability of the U.S. economy.
8
More than half of the world’s 100 most valuable publicly traded corporations are American, far surpassing any other country. In fact, even though the U.S. has about 4 per cent of the world’s population, it claims about 65 per cent of the value of the world’s investable public stocks.
9
Most Americans have a direct stake: Sixty-two per cent of Americans own stocks, compared with a third or less in most other developed countries.
10
The U.S. leads the world in venture capital, with more than $450 billion available to American start-ups. China, in second, has only $41 billion. That makes it far easier for U.S. entrepreneurs to access financing to start a business and pursue their dreams.
11
Americans are growing wealthier across the board. After falling during the Great Recession, median net worth has surged to new heights. The number of millionaires has grown at a record pace in recent years. In fact, the U.S. is home to the highest number of Black millionaires on the planet.
12
The median U.S. household has a higher annual income than 96 per cent of the world’s population. This includes many wealthy nations: Average annual wages in the U.S. are 19 per cent higher than in Germany, 37 per cent higher than in France and 63 per cent higher than in Italy, adjusted for purchasing power.
13
The U.S. remains a magnet for talent. Before the second Trump administration, more than a million people were granted legal residency every year. Hundreds of thousands are still trying to come here, despite new restrictions. Our foreign-born population is more than three times the size of any other country’s.
14
The U.S. is the world’s largest oil exporter and continues making strides toward energy independence. The shale revolution helped insulate consumers from energy shocks.
15
The U.S. is experiencing a boom in solar and wind. It maintains the largest fleet of nuclear reactors in the world. Investors are eagerly looking to build out advanced nuclear technology, including fusion.
16
The U.S. is installing battery storage at a record pace. That infrastructure will help meet rising energy demands and make the electrical grid more efficient. Meanwhile, automakers and energy suppliers are beginning to deploy sodium ion batteries, which promise to be more durable than the lithium batteries that dominate the market. They’re also easier to manufacture.
17
The U.S. is leading the world on artificial intelligence, which has the potential to revolutionize the economy. Self-driving cars promise to make streets safer and more efficient. Large language models will make workers more productive and reduce the amount of time they spend performing menial tasks.
18
The U.S. has the strongest military in the world. That investment protects American interests, safeguards the freedom of navigation and deters the outbreak of global wars.
19
The U.S. benefits from an extensive system of global alliances, which multiplies its already formidable strength and ability to project power.
20
The U.S. dominates the final frontier. America’s private space industry — including Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Blue Origin, founded by Post owner Jeff Bezos — is booming, supporting science and developing satellite-based internet services for people without access to broadband.
21
No other country is as generous as America. Our people contribute to charity about 2 per cent of GDP every year, roughly the size of Sweden’s entire economy.
22
The U.S. still rules the world culturally. The filmmaking industry dominates the worldwide box office and TV show markets.
23
Despite its polarized politics, the U.S. has become more tolerant and accepting. Support for same-sex marriage doubled in 20 years, reflecting a capacity for introspection.
24
Protections for free speech are among the most robust in the world. Despite recent strains, journalists continue to uncover government failures, and Americans freely debate ideas.
25
America’s record of democracy remains rock solid. Never once in its 250 years has it failed to conduct scheduled federal elections, even during the Civil War and pandemics. The government is messy and imperfect, always has been, but so long as its citizenry maintains faith in the principles set down by the Founding Fathers, it will always have the capacity for self-improvement.
Perspective from the 19th Hole 