It is easy to look at the current sorry state of affairs and ask, “What on earth do we have to be thankful for?”

The economy is still in the dumps. Unemployment is still extremely high. Politicians in Washington can’t seem to get together on a way to cut our ever-increasing federal budget, and business owners wait tenuously to see what the government’s next move will be.

Closer to home, Jefferson County has just declared the largest Chapter 9 municipal bankruptcy in the history of the country, major cutbacks and layoffs are coming soon, and no solution to the debt crisis in sight.

It’s enough to dishearten even the brightest optimist.

So with all that doom and gloom, what is there to give thanks for?

Compared to most of the world, we have a lot.

There’s still strife in Afghanistan, Iran, and most of the Middle East, but it hasn’t reached our shores — we’ve gone quite a while without a large-scale terrorist event within our borders. And while billions of people across the globe still live in extreme poverty, even the poorest among our own generally have enough to eat. We may be tightening our belts a bit, but considering we were fat and happy for quite some time, a little belt-tightening isn’t all that bad.

So when you sit down in front of an overstuffed turkey, mounds of cornbread dressing and enough green bean casserole to feed an army, and then start wondering why we should be thankful this year — well, just look down at the table, and think of those who can’t.