A Nation of Ingrates? – - Rachel Lu

Frida Ghitis: How can we maintain a posture of gratitude towards the world around us, given the strong human tendency to take things for granted? Ghitis asks: How do we prevent a healthy gratitude for good things from making us complacent about bad ones? Without gratitude, people are easily drawn into resentment, envy, and a perpetual sense of grievance, she writes.

Ghitis says gratitude instills a sense of indebtedness and then, following from that, responsibility.

Frida Ghitis : I have far more reason to be grateful in my home than I did on the street.

She says it's possible to cultivate a posture of gratitude towards our loved ones, even in response to gestures that we regard as obligatory.

Ghitis says the immigration debate has been the primary fuel of both parties for years , which seems odd when one considers that there are billions of people alive today would see American citizenship as a gift of immense value.

Frida Ghitis: Why does anyone even want to come to America ? She says Americans are extraordinarily blessed, but a large share of our population seems not to think so.

She says we must remember how to enshrine gratitude as a defining virtue of our movement.

Ghitis says gratitude is the crucial ingredient that can tame envy and resentment.