I haven’t traveled outside of the United State very much but I have some.

In 1997, I traveled to the Russian Far East and to Moscow.

This was an eye-opening experience. I was traveling with three couples who were adopting Russian babies.

I was told that the average Russian woman has 10 abortions in her lifetime because families don’t have the resources to have very many children. In one Russian city we visited, an American missionary told me that there are more children in orphanages in that town than in kindergarten.

Under Communist rule, women and families believed that the state could do a better job of raising children and the ultimate responsibility for most children was with the state, not the parents.

At that time, there were two categories of orphanages based on age. The younger children were cared for, although with meager resources. The older orphans were in much tougher situations. And when they became teenagers, they were kicked out of the system with no support from family or the state. Many became alcoholics or drug addicts and they didn’t live very long.

We traveled to Russian markets and there was a sense of despair.

Things may be better in Russia now. I haven’t been there in a long time.

My family has taken cruises to Mexico and Central America and we have seen quite a contrast. We step off the ship where excellent food is plentiful 24 hours a day and every need is catered to. When you step into a port, you walk into a “tourist trap” where there are bars, souvenir shops and clothing stores.

Sometimes, we go on excursions sponsored by the cruise line and we get to travel past the port village into the backwoods of these countries.

The poverty is staggering. We see houses built out of cardboard. There are people – including tiny children – begging on the street. People are dressed in ragged clothing.

And there is a distinct look of despair on their faces.

I have been through poor parts of the United States. That’s a relative term because our nation doesn’t have the depth of poverty that we see in so many Third World nations.

As we have driven through the South, you see old, poorly constructed houses. You see yards littered with perennial garage sale merchandise. You see used refrigerators on front porches. It’s not a pretty sight.

There’s a difference.

Sure, there are those in Russia and China who are prospering. But they essentially have no middle class and they have very limited freedoms. (Just talk to someone in Hong Kong).

There is a reason why so many outside America are willing to risk their lives to come here illegally and start over.

There are wealthy upper classes in Central America, South America, Africa, India, and in almost every country. But in America we have freedom and overall prosperity that is unmatched anywhere in the world.

We can hop in our car and drive across the country without permission. Our children can go to college, earn a degree and get a better job. Even those who don’t have a degree, can go to a bank, borrow money, start a business and do very well. In fact, some of the richest people in America don’t have degrees.

We have opportunity. Even the poorest families can rise above poverty. One generation can rise above the social status of their predecessors.

This is the legacy and the vision of our Founding Fathers. They were sick of the ruling royalty of Europe and their view was that if all men were created equal, everyone should have equal opportunity.

Now the progressives are trying to tear down the American legacy of freedom and equal opportunity. The socialists in their playbook want stir up class envy between the poor and the rich in the United States. That doesn’t fly because poor people have access to a lot of resources.

So the progressives and the liberal media turn to racial hatred as the path to revolution. They are revising our history to make it look like the Founders were racially motivated and did not really hold to Christian values.

As we celebrate Independence Day, the challenge for parents and grandparents is to instill our Christian faith and patriotism into the next generations. We were given a great gift from our ancestors and our freedom is in jeopardy.

We have a president who thinks that “global warming” is the “biggest threat” to the United States. Everyone knows that is hogwash.

Our biggest threat is to abandon the principles that built this nation and lose the vision of greatness that God gave our Founding Fathers.

I like what I see in the United States of America more than any other nation in the world.

Have a safe and happy Fourth of July!