We're alive at the single greatest moment in U.S. and human history. By a lot. Why it matters: It's not even close, by almost every empirical measure. We live longer, better, richer, healthier and freer than those before us. Yes, we screw a lot up. Always have. Always will. But nothing bothers me more than the widespread pessimism and plummeting patriotism — when it should be a time of great hope and possibility. To me, that yawning gap between our reality and how people feel about it is among