REFLECTING ON MY GOOD FORTUNE

I took the time a few months ago to analyze my good fortune and attempt to understand how I arrived at the opportunity to take advantage of the work of those who came before me. I came up with a few statistics that emphasized, for me, a few of the special adventures that I have enjoyed. In spite of all of the political, economic and personal struggles that have affected us and our country during the last few decades, I’m sure that most of us have occasionally taken time to reflect seriously about some of our individual good fortune and the effort, investment and sacrifice that brought that good fortune within our reach.

Recorded history goes back about 5,000 years. The existence of the human species goes back about 200,000 years. In all of that time, I believe that the 65 years since the end of World War II have been the most prosperous, the most pleasant and the most enlightening years of all time….for most American citizens. We have been truly fortunate....in spite of wars, unrest and political problems.

It's estimated that approximately 107 billion people have been born since man first appeared on this planet. About 6.4 billion, or 6%, of us are currently living.

Man has always looked skyward with dreams of flight….with an envy of the birds that soar the invisible waves of air and touch the clouds above. Although I never yearned to be as those birds and the pilots of those many aircraft that cruise our skies, I became a pilot out of necessity and came to take great pleasure in the ability to fly numerous aircraft in pleasant and not-so-pleasant weather.

While comparing my aviation experiences to the rest of mankind, I discovered the following:

• 94 millionths of one percent of persons who ever lived were fortunate to become aviation pilots.

• 42 millionths of one percent of persons who ever lived were fortunate to be capable of instrument flight….to fly aircraft by instruments inside clouds and ice and in black skies.

• 56 millionths of one percent of persons who ever lived were fortunate to fly multi-engine aircraft.

• 47 millionths of one percent of persons who ever lived were fortunate to enjoy the thrills of skydiving.

• Only 2 millionths of one percent of persons who ever lived were fortunate to do the things I have done with a glider, to fly nearly 200 miles at altitudes up to 23,000 feet and for almost 8 hours.

I mention these accomplishments not to brag on myself, although I am proud of them. I mention them to demonstrate my good fortune that accrued to me only through the hard work, dedication and sacrifices of those who came before me. If not for them, I would likely be a simple farmer struggling, against all that Mother Nature has to offer, to make a living for my family.

I have enjoyed many other things, of course. I have been exceedingly fortunate. Nearly 107 billion people did not have the opportunities that I have had. That statistic is very humbling. I can never allow myself to think in terms of misfortune or want, no matter what may happen in the future. I have lived a charmed life, in spite of occasional missteps and set-backs. There are nearly 45 million reasons for my opportunity to have the life I've lived. 658 thousand of them died fighting wars to preserve my liberty and yours. Another 1.5 million of them sacrificed their limbs, health and fortunes for the cause of life, liberty and property.

Many more hundreds of thousands have died in the process of pioneering and building the country we have enjoyed up to now. Our federal, state and local governments, through recent acts and omissions, have chosen to ignore or discount the value of the sacrifices and contributions that our parents and ancestors made to the prosperity we have all had the good fortune to enjoy. Our dishonorable federal and state governments now look at our prosperity with the attitudes of common criminals who wish to steal as much of it as possible for their political friends, certain special interests and for themselves.

One more thing….I want to call your attention to one of the greatest philosophers of the last 5,000 years....Ms. Ayn Rand. Rand wrote, in 1957, a book called "Atlas Shrugged" in which she warned of all that is happening to our country today. She lived through two Russian revolutions and witnessed the communist takeover of her homeland. Emigrating to the United States in 1926, she later recognized the early stages of our shift toward statism. Everyone interested in the preservation of liberty and the right to one’s life and property should read this prophetic novel and others in which she laid out the arguments for the right of the individual to live for his or her own sake....and to sacrifice no one to himself without the other’s consent.