The New Year has become a traditional time to reflect on the year past and ponder the year to come.
Invariably, the forecasters focus on the next 12 short months while failing to appreciate the sweep of history that has brought us to this next chapter of American history. The pessimistic "Bears" among us will warn that there are systematic threats to our economy, our nation, and the stability of the world. The optimistic "Bulls" will tout the enormous advances in technology, Wall Street confidence, and a resilient American economy that continues to set the pace for the rest of the planet.
In truth, they are both right, and the reality of America at the start of 2025 is far more nuanced than any one side would have you believe.
With an appreciation of history, one needs to look at our nation as a democracy that has demonstrated time and time again an enormous resiliency to profound changes that would have fractured any other country, and that has been so literally since our independence.
As President, George Washington had to send troops to put down the Whiskey Rebellion when a band of angry citizens of a new United States violently protested a tax on alcohol levied to pay off Revolutionary War debts. Without a strong response, America could have disintegrated at the start.
Economic cycles of boom and bust could have dismantled our democracy. Few Americans recognize how close our nation came to the political edge during the Great Depression of the 1930s, when massive unemployment led to despair among millions.
World War II propelled America into its role of a global superpower it continues to hold today. Its legacy created a pathway for civil rights, the expansion of the middle class, an interstate highway system that connected us to all points of the compass, a strong and resilient government that avoided nuclear war through strength, leading to our ultimate victory in the Cold War.
So as forecasters hope to peer into the next 12 months, our past reminds us that if we focus exclusively on the day-to-day ebb and flow of our nation's pulse, we miss seeing the incredible achievements of a country that remains a beacon of freedom and opportunity.
While pundits and prognosticators will dominate our attention during the next several days of the New Year, in the end, look to the historians for guidance: they have studied the past and can best appreciate the enormous future potential of a strong, dynamic and resilient America.
Lawrence Kadish serves on the Board of Governors of Gatestone Institute.
