Life With Nick Sammons

The United States may be on its way to being free of the Zika virus. The travel ban on the Miami neighborhood with a known Zika presence has now been lifted after 45 days of no new recorded transmissions. Authorities still warn to avoid all mosquito bites in the area, but the ban has been lifted and that is what matters.

In spite of all the deaths in the news, America still has its victories. Though this Zika clearance seems small to us, it could have spread easily.

Living in a developed country does not prevent diseases or viruses from taking hold, and even though they can be slowed, it comes down to our bodies to defend us.

Every time we hear in the news that there is a new dangerous sickness, we often are not seriously concerned, and when the news switches topics as the virus goes away, we act like the problem just solved itself.

Here in America, we are so used to our biggest problems being solved somewhat easily that we neglect to think about all of the work required to prevent catastrophes from occurring every day.

America is flawed in many ways, sure, but we are also successful beyond our perception. With the amount of resources and structure our society has, we can stop a potentially devastating disease or virus in its tracks, we can keep a very large portion of the population out of poverty, and we can choose our leaders (for better or for worse).

I just wanted everyone to remember that many great breakthroughs do happen in America, even though the news would have us believe that America’s political deadlock and social unrest are the only events taking place. I am not belittling the importance of these events, however, I wanted to take a moment to pause and acknowledge  that there are some great things happening in our country to be grateful for.