Four times in my lifetime America has discovered helping someone helped everyone.

In Bulgaria, you can hear an ugly story of neighborly distrust. A farmer discovered a bottle, rubbed it and out popped the genie, who said:

“Your fondest wish will be granted, but one condition: Your neighbor must receive twice as much as you.”

The crankie farmer thought and then asked that he loose his sight in one eye so that his neighbor might lose both eyes.

America has not reached that level of dyspeptic anger about our neighbors or new arrivals, but I cannot remember a time of such ugly polarized distrust.

During most of my 87 years I recall an ethos of win-win cooperation. Revenge or “Get them before they get you was seldom heard.

When I was born, our country had just started the electrification of rural America. Only 11% of farms had service in the early 1930s.

By 1955 the program extended service 80% of our farmers. City folk subsidized this expensive project, and in exchange, the whole country received improved farm productivity and lower food prices.

The Civil Rights Act 1964 brought opportunity to many poorly educated unemployed. This helped thousands   into productive, tax paying jobs that benefited most all of us.

Many Americans resisted the experimental Salk Polio Vaccine, until it became obvious that inoculations made each of us unlikely to spend our lives in an iron lung tank.  Successful test results arrived in 1955 thanks to the funds and efforts of a few but benefits for all. 

More recently, the ADA disability act of 1990 cost able-bodied tax payers’ huge sums but today allows immobile and disadvantaged people to join society. But here too were other winners: granny with her wheely shopping cart, suitcase and me on my bicycle as we roll down sidewalk curbs, up ramps and into elevators.

  How about you? Will your arch look as good? Will you lose sight of cooperative solutions? Will you sing “this land your land and is not their land?”.  Will you stick it to neighbors before they stick you?

Yes, we are competitive, argumentative and somewhat self-serving citizens. At the same time, a win-win cooperative attitude has served us well. Belittling newcomers or poking out our neighbors’ eyes is not who we are.

P.S. What American “Win-win” examples have I left out? Name it in the comments and then forward to someone who believes cooperation is weakness.