America affords all of us incredible opportunities - by Mark Schnurman

The NYC real estate markets afford us opportunities to do what we love and achieve financial success. When I walk through Eastern Consolidated’s offices I think “only in America.” We have native speakers of 15 different languages and our brokers come from different cultures and all over the world. America affords all of us incredible opportunities.

I am writing this on Memorial Day, a day we remember those who gave the ultimate sacrifice for our country. Memorial Day, in our popular awareness, has come to represent barbecues, parties and the beginning of summer. This is eminently appropriate because those who died defending our country were protecting our way of life.

We work hard in real estate but it is the opportunities, economic stability and certainty of government in America that allows us to succeed. My immigrant grandparents could never have even imagined the life I am able to live, yet that is why their families chose to flee persecution and emigrate to America.

When I reflect on the current political discourse I am saddened, not because of the differences of opinion, but because of the manner in which they are expressed. We are a nation built on freedom of speech and vigorous discourse. I am troubled by the devolving tone of the conversation and the virulence and personal animus engendered.

It is possible to disagree without being disagreeable. It is possible to find common ground. It is possible to disagree with an idea without hating its possessor. I have a dear friend who is on the other side of the isle politically from me and yet every time we speak we find more and more common ground. You see, we want the same things for America and our people. We simply have differences of opinions of how to achieve them.

I am amazed when people say that if this or that presidential candidate wins they will move to another country. Goodbye! For the rest of us, lets just be a little more tolerant of differences and opinions with which we disagree. We are not a nation of republicans and democrats. We are not a nation of rich or poor, northerners or southerners. We are not a nation of black or white, hispanic or asian, old or young.

We are a nation of Americans. We can and should possess disparate opinions and even fundamentally different visions for our nation. We live in a dangerous and difficult world, and to paraphrase Lincoln, a nation divided against itself cannot stand.

America is both revered and reviled around the world for its fundamental good and moral clarity. We are loved and hated because we know the difference between being liberators and conquerers. We are fundamentally different from every other nation in the world. We are more diverse racially, ethnically, religiously and socially than any other nation. That diversity makes us great but it can also destroy us if we allow it to.

Those who gave their life for our nation and our way of life can never be repaid. Yet we can take some small steps. To paraphrase Reagan, we need to seize certainty, certainty in America’s uniqueness and greatness from the heart of an ambivalent and divisive age.

Yesterday I went for a run. While running I saw a small American flag on the side of the road. I picked it up and for the balance of my run held it high. As cars and bikers passed some honked and waved in approval, while others seemed perplexed by the sight of a middle-aged man running holding an American flag. Perhaps it was simply a small gesture by a proud American thanking those who sacrificed for this great country.

Mark Schnurman is chief sales officer and principal at Eastern Consolidated, New York, N.Y.