America Is Still a ‘Land of Wonders’

I’ve been as transfixed as anyone in America by the hordes of foreign soccer fans coming here and marveling at the grandiosity of our institutions — even our gas stations — and the generous character of the American people themselves. Yes, free refills are a loss leader; but they are also a form of hospitality that is so characteristic of our country. Of course, these sports fanatics aren’t the first observers to notice what makes America distinct. They are part of a long line of foreign admirers.

“America is a land of wonders, in which everything is in constant motion and every change seems an improvement,” wrote Alexis de Tocqueville. “No natural boundary seems to be set to the efforts of man; and in his eyes what is not yet done is only what he has not attempted to do.”