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The Emergence of the New Patriot? How will it impact our country?
Old Versus New Patriots? Never the Twain Shall Meet?
And if a house is divided against itself, that house cannot remain. Mark 3:25
Patriot – a person who loves and loyally or zealously supports his own country, or devoted to the welfare of one’s country. Webster’s New Twentieth Century Dictionary, Unabridged, Second Edition - Deluxe Color. Published by New World Dictionaries/Simon and Schuster, N.Y. 1983.
With 14th Anniversary of Patriot Day being commemorated today in the USA it is always beneficial to reflect how far we’ve come or how far we’ve strayed from our original moorings (that is to say our Country’s Constitution). With unprecedented world-wide killings and wars with millions of refugees flooding “safe” shores[1] [2] and with mass unrest here at home[3] we need to take stock & evaluate whether we are an old Patriot or a new one. I will go as far as saying it is a matter of national importance.
What is the main difference between the old and the new Patriot? I believe it is their definition of freedom and their understanding of it. The old Patriot says: Freedom is NOT Free – meaning there is a personal cost and burden associated with maintaining their countries’ (and fellow countrymen’s) freedoms and their own freedom[4]. As President Kennedy so famously stated: Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country! The old Patriot takes pride in their labor, their responsibility, their integrity, their service, their provision, their productivity that creates life, health & wellness for themselves, their families and their community. They don’t expect special treatment just a level working & playing field to pursue their version of happiness & a piece of the American dream. The old Patriot doesn’t lie, cheat, steal or destroy other’s people’s stuff or lives to accomplish their way, neither do they force others’ to adopt that new behavior so that the new way is accomplished. The old Patriot knows that their freedoms were hard-earned & often times paid for in blood, sweat, tears & death so it is much more precious & worth fighting for. They know their own value, worth and positions in life are in their own hands (for the most part) and not the responsibility of anyone else. They create, support, and maintain institutions, which clearly perpetuate those freedoms and offers those freedoms to the next generation of Patriots.
In my closing remark, especially for all those new Patriots, whether by definition or newly arrived to this country, please reflect this Patriot Day on where you are, where you came from, where you are going… Please honor the country(men) that took you in & become an old Patriot so that we can continue to be a country built on old patriotic moorings so we won’t fall apart or implode because the old and the new patriots could not coexist peacefully.
God bless America, all the nations of this world and all the past, present and future Patriots!
[1] http://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2015-migrant-rescue-in-the-mediterranean/
[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgdwJCQyojQ Angelina Jolie special interview with refugee survivors
[3] http://usawatchdog.com/fall-2015-turning-point-civil-unrest-and-riots-martin-armstrong/ & http://americathebattlefield.blogspot.com/2015/05/police-militarization-for-economic-collapse-food-shortage-civil-unrest-martial-law.html & http://nationalhomeless.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Food-Sharing2014.pdf & http://nationalhomeless.org/about-homelessness/
[4] http://hopeforjustice.org/human-trafficking/ & https://journals.law.stanford.edu/stanford-journal-civil-rights-and-civil-liberties-sjcrcl/online/civil-rights-vs-civil-liberties