These days we hear so many bad and conflicting reports about

our great nation that it might do us all a bit of good to take a minute to

remember that we live in the greatest nation on earth. Sure, we have our problems and we are still growing up in grand timeline of history.

Nevertheless, the United States of America has been a place of refuge, growth, freedom, and opportunity for hundreds of millions of people around the globe. We should take a moment to remember why we should be thankful that we live in America.

In the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson said that we are all entitled to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” In those three statements, he set the stage for opportunity, growth, and

unleashing the human potential. Those three statements were protected in the Bill of Rights where most of our basic liberties are protected from encroachment by the government. The Bill of Rights and subsequent amendments to the Constitution have protected the first two ideas of life and liberty.

We have a right to peaceably protest and worship in whichever religion we choose, and can no longer be enslaved by another person, and we have many other Constitutionally protected rights.

The issue is in the third phrase. Most people aren’t thankful to live in America because they think they have a right to happiness. We don’t. We have a right to the PURSUIT of happiness. We are not entitled to anything. In the words of Mark Twain, “Don’t go around saying the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing. It was here first.”

In today’s society, we want everything immediately and without

inconvenience. We expect to graduate if we simply show up to school. We expect a paycheck if we merely clock in at work. We expect someone else to pay for luxuries we cannot afford.

The truth hurts: you graduate if you study, you get paid if you work, and you get luxury when if earn it.

This is America. Be Thankful. Pursue Happiness.

The last bite…

Two words: Praline bacon. Yep, you read that correctly. This past weekend, Courtney and I met a few friends for brunch to celebrate a

birthday and were treated to a delicacy that would give a heart doctor pause and a dietician a heart attack. Imagine a perfectly cooked piece of juicy bacon that has crumbled pieces of praline pressed into it before they

slapped it on the grill. The bacon has all of the salty goodness we love about it, and then the sugar of the praline begins to melt on your tongue, and your eyes open wide as you realize that there is a party going on in your mouth. The praline bacon was a lot like Lays potato chips because I couldn’t eat just one. I give praline bacon 5 (out of 5) crumbs!

Buddy Boe, a resident of Garyville, owns a public relations and program management company and is well known on the local political (and food) scenes. His column appears Wednesdays in L’Observateur.