A Love Letter to America

I was born in the very heart of Europe, full of rich history, culture, and an over two-thousand-year-old tradition of feuds, wars, poverty, and human sufferings. As impressive some of the epochs theoretically might have been, they were all built on authoritarian, dictatorial, tyrannical systems. No such thing as democracy, personal freedom, or independence ever existed. With this kind of historical baggage, Europeans don't comprehend what we call personal freedoms, life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. When I was able to learn what American spirit and the American way of life really mean for the first time, I was moved, excited, encouraged, and motivated. I was instantly attracted to the American Dream and decided this is where I want to live, work, and spend the rest of my life.During my early childhood, I remember people talking about someone who "made it" in life. These were all folks who somehow managed to escape to America, the country of their dreams, the nation of unlimited opportunities, the place of unrestricted potential for personal success. In our vision of the American Dream, America was the only place where a poor, helpless "nobody" had a chance to live a decent life or even to become a millionaire. America appeared to us as the only society where anybody could generate his own fortune following the American spirit, this is with hard work, proper self-discipline, and limitless determination. Only in America, we were told, such things are possible, and we believed that deeply. At the end of WW2, we did not have to look far-away for the proof. At that time, everything good came from America. The US rescued us from Hitler's tyranny, fed us, helped us politically and economically to survive the terrible aftereffects of the war. What has been totally forgotten, America also gave the war-ravaged European countries, especially Germany, the vision and practical help to establish their own democratic political systems. At that time, the US Constitution was considered the ideal form of people-oriented government form. I still remember the enthusiasm of my High School teacher praising everything American.Additionally, everything we admired and were looking for came from America. Not just Coca Cola, Elvis Presley, and blue jeans. All technical, medical, and scientific innovations appeared to have been "made in the USA." Not to mention the biggest and most beautiful cars came from the US, of course.How couldn't I have fallen in love with America, a long time before I had the slightest idea of how to finish my education, establish my own family, or to pay for my transatlantic fare?When I first came to the US as a tourist in the early eighties, I was absolutely enthusiastic. Still, I was slightly anxious and skeptical. Why? My vision of America started was poisoned by the misinformation of European media, which is overly critical, even hostile to America. I instantly discovered that most Europeans were not able to understand the American spirit, the US Constitution, and the American way of life. There was only one reason. With the tyrannical history behind an upcoming Marxist worldview ahead, there was no way to comprehend Americans and their love of freedom, independence, and self-determination. And worst of all, how can freedoms be granted by God and not by the government? They didn't get it and still don't until today.Finally stepping on the American soil for the first time, how was I surprised! America was exactly the way I have dreamed about. Kind, warm-hearted, friendly, and lovable all-around. At that time, I fell in love with America again, this time on the basis of facts and my own experience.Coming to America, this was my childhood dream and a subconscious decision carved in stone decades ago. Nobody was able to convince me otherwise.