Speaking at the Republican convention, Senator Tim Scott said: "My grandfather's 99th birthday would have been tomorrow.  Growing up, he had to cross the street if a white person was coming.  He suffered the indignity of being forced out of school as a third-grader to pick cotton and never learned to read or write.  Yet he lived to see his grandson become the first African-American to be elected to both the United States House and Senate.  Our family went from cotton to Congress in one lifetime."

In contrast to Tim Scott's family, my family in the USSR went from hope to despair in one lifetime.

My father was born in 1917 as the Russian Revolution was taking place.  He believed in all the slogans: equality, fairness, taking from the rich and giving it to the poor, no private property.  He accepted Marx's declaration that "religion is the opium of the people" and slogans such as "Those who are not with us — are against us!"  My father joined the Communist Party, hoping for a better future for his children and grandchildren.

As the socialist economy marched toward a bright future of communism, Soviet citizens continued to face poverty, chronic shortage of basic necessities, ethnic discrimination, anti-Semitism, and a total disregard for human dignity.  When we decided to emigrate in 1979, my father knew that there was no future for his children and grandchildren in the socialist USSR.

American Democratic Party leaders insist that there is nothing exceptional about their country.  Today on the streets of many American cities, "mostly peaceful" protesters are reciting familiar slogans from the past.  They are chanting old socialist slogans while destroying property, burning American flags, and assaulting police.  These people are not seeing what Senator Tim Scott describes, the incredible opportunity that is unique to America.  Everything they are shouting about America we were previously taught in Soviet schools many decades earlier.

When we came to United States, we had nothing.  In addition, we spoke very little English.  Yet, in about five years, we reached a higher standard of living than all prior generations of our family had back in USSR.

I strongly believe that America is an exceptional country because people have the liberty to strive for success.  In America, the sky is the limit.  Therefore, imposing equality of outcome is a destructive concept.  If the Democratic Party succeeds in imposing their priorities on us, American citizens, we will lose the freedom to choose our own destiny, which is what makes this country exceptional.

Image Ryan Johnson, North Charleston.