Although I have not been aware of a negative slant in Western media toward China, I have been captivated by the many YouTube videos showcasing China’s advancements in technology and improvements in quality of life for its citizens. I have found this exciting rather than threatening, because videos like yours and others show people who are happy and friendly, as opposed to sullen and hostile.

I worked for Sears for nine years as a part-time job on nights and weekends. I remember financial news reports that would begin with, “Sears, the world’s largest retailer,” before going on to report the day’s economic news. Yet within those nine years, Sears slipped from being the world’s leading retailer to a literal has-been, while companies like Amazon took the basic catalog approach and translated it to the internet. Sears, meanwhile, stood back and watched—or perhaps didn’t watch at all—and failed to take proactive action.

My point in saying this is that Sears became a victim of its own success and the arrogance that came with it. At times, I feel that America has become much like Sears. Yes, we are the world’s greatest country, but we can’t simply sit on our hands and repeat that phrase as if it will always remain true.

I believe we are going through incredibly scary times right now, where our Constitution has been reduced to a narrow and often misinterpreted focus on the Second Amendment, and where our politics have divided us rather than united us around a common cause.

I am an old man, and I have had the privilege of growing up in an America that I love deeply—an America that loved me back, an America that strove for its highest ideals, and an America that took pride in its technological and scientific advancements. I can only hope that ignorance and arrogance do not become our Achilles’ heel.