I hate to admit that I have never read Charles Dickens’ novel, “A Tale of Two Cities.”

I own a beautiful leather bound copy of the classic, and it sits on the shelves in my den. Yet, I have not made it a priority for my reading list. 

I am, however, quite familiar with a portion of Dickens’ leading sentence, “It was the best of times, It was the worst of times.”

I pulled my copy of the book down the other day to see what followed and was blown away.

Dickens continues, “It was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us…”

Ironically, this description could be reflective of many eras, cultures and countries and certainly, it could be seen as applicable in today’s times when it comes to American politics.

No matter which perspective you choose to embrace, there is media to support each view. Some news outlets chastise the left, while others rebuke the right, with both spilling out doom and gloom if the other side were to be in power.

I often wonder, are things as bad in America as some seem to argue?

We live in a country that has accomplished so much — cures for illnesses have been discovered, men have gone to the moon and back, and our technology has advanced us from horse and buggy to cars, and airplanes.

Then of course there are our communication capabilities, which have soared with Internet and cell phones.

Have you ever considered what it would be like to not live in America?

Think about it. It may not be as bad here as some claim.

Name me a country that has completely figured out how to please everyone who lives within its borders and where all of their people are 100 percent completely satisfied with how the government is run?

I don’t know about you, but I’m thinking that would be a utopia and to my understanding, we will only have the luxury of living in a place like that when we get to heaven.

So times are bad, but times are good, too.

Most of us have food, water and shelter, and those of us living in the U.S. also have the additional perks of sound infrastructure, electricity and plumbing, just to name a few.

Is life perfect in America for all, no?

Is life fair in America for all, no?

Life is neither perfect nor fair anywhere.

As Americans, we should always strive to improve our country, but as a nation, we also need to learn to come together with our differences and remember there is still much we can all be proud.

Next Tuesday, we will have the opportunity to go to the polls and vote. Your guy or gal may not win, but no matter the outcome, I hope we can take it in stride and begin making an effort to come together.

An age of wisdom and season of hope would be nice.

Terri Cowart Frazier is a staff writer at The Vicksburg Post. Readers are invited to submit their opinions for publication.