Proud to be an American

This is part seven of a seven part series.

It’s been a solid week, one which has forced me to reflect on how fortunate I am as a man to have the life that I live.

I hope you’ve enjoyed reading the essays this past week as much as I have enjoyed writing them.

The Order:

1. Son
2. Daughter
3. Wife
4. Finances
5. Home
6. Tradition
7. Country

America is the greatest country in the world and I will forever be grateful that I was born here.

This statement is one which pulls two responses from individuals.

There are those who hear it and without a real justification as to why, they agree and pump their fists and yell, trying to drown out any opposition that may arise and challenge their beliefs.

They yell and flex because when their belief in the USA is challenged, they don’t have a strong foundation with which they can rely on to support them when pressed.

Most love the U.S. because they were born here and that’s that.

Similar to Catholics who are only Catholics because their parents were. They don’t have a real reason as to why they feel the way they do because that’s just the way it is.

It’s a decision they never made for themselves.

It’s popular to chant USA-USA-USA, show our guns, and yell shit like Freedom, ‘Merica (I hate that term), and simply bash all those who aren’t us.

Then there’s the second group.

This group hears me say, “The United States is the greatest country in the world” and their first reaction is that I’m some brainwashed, white privileged, out of touch with reality nationalist.

They view our country to be oppressive, racist, and to be leading the charge in the destruction of the world as we know it.

These people have every right to speak and feel the way they do, but they’re wrong.

The people who share the video where Jeff Daniels talks of how America isn’t the greatest are virtue signaling at the highest level.

These people who share anti-American videos, memes, and possibly attend protests are the same people who have a Starbucks in their hand, hold hunger strikes where you’re allowed to eat, and rely heavily on the protection of government security officials while protesting the government…let that sink in.

I am no brainwashed nationalist, I’ve chosen this path under my own free will.

I served on active duty for eight years in the United States Navy. I’ve racked up over 650 days at sea, deployed twice, and during that stretch I visited five countries. I was no Joe-Operator, I was an engineer. While not being  a trigger-puller, I was not immune to the devastation that comes with war as well as seeing how other countries have it.

I’ve seen firsthand what oppression looks like.

I’ve seen the price we pay to ensure that the enemy remains on their land and isn’t knocking on our doorstep.

I’ve been in areas where people were ready to die for their cause and their cause was freedom from an oppressive government.

They did not have soy lattes in hand.

I am able to say that America is the greatest country in the world because I have seen the alternative.

I have looked behind the curtain and I have seen things that I can never forget.

Body parts in bags, women begging for money, kids being beaten for not bringing enough money to their mother, barely teens being offered for sexual exploitation.

I had a mother offer herself and her daughter to make a porno with me so she could sell it for money; the girl looked like she was 12.

Some guy out there accepted the offer and while it makes me sick to my stomach to write that, I know it’s true.

Our country is the greatest that has ever been.

Being alive in this time is spoiling people. Most think this life is hard when in fact, this is the easiest time to be alive in history. As a friend of mine once said, “This is the only period in human history where people have to actively seek out discomfort“.

We literally have people suffering from physical ailments that are associated with being too sedentary and having too much access to food.

You don’t even have to move; press a few buttons in a specific order on your phone and a meal shows up at your door.

Those who rally, protest, and try to raise anarchy against the government and Trump are doing so in an attempt to have a sense of purpose and identity.

It’s become ‘cool’ to be against Trump when in reality it is the businesses which people should be targeting, not the head of the government.

The problem?

It isn’t as popular to say, “I’m no longer buying anything from Abercrombie, SEARs, Starbucks, Nike, Pfizer, AIG, Goldman Sachs, Target, Walmart, etc.“

People want their comforts; forget boycotting things that would make your own life inconvenient, right guys???

Our country is so great people protest against the most minor of subjects.

I get it though.

People want to believe they’re making a difference in the world and they want to fight against the injustices.

The problem is, denouncing your own country isn’t the way to accomplish that goal and this is the point of the essay you’re reading now.

Trump isn’t the best we could put in office, the education system isn’t as good as it should be, and our society does have its issues.

Another problem we’re facing in America is that people have become so entitled and estranged to actual pain and hardship.

You don’t deserve anything; you get what you give and simply being alive doesn’t mean you’re guaranteed to get what you want or to experience any success at all.

Life is unfair, most predators are faster than their prey, life itself is based on things being unfair.

That’s how we’ve made it this far.

So stop focusing on why things aren’t fair; instead, start working your ass off to become predator instead of prey.

We should all be nationalists as that promotes a cohesion among our fellow citizens.

America is a nation of immigrants, growing up my best friends were a Colombian from Barranquilla and an Irish kid who looked albino.

Fuck racism, I base my judgement on merit alone.

The way we fix our nation is not by removing everything that makes us American, but rather by doubling down and investing in our fellow man.

How do you actually ‘Make America Great Again’?

By being a Great American.

Your individual actions will dictate what type of country it is that we live in.

I love my country, it’s the greatest nation in the world.

I’m but a single drop of Pro-American water. If we can get a few more drops to start flowing in the same direction then we can start making a change.

A flood is nothing more than millions of drops of water flowing in the same direction.

We owe it to our country to be the best citizen we can possibly be.

That means we need to start holding ourselves to a higher standard, choosing to pick the right fights with the right people, and taking responsibility for our actions.

It isn’t ‘America’s’ fault we aren’t where we want to be, it’s our own.

Let’s start earning the life we feel we deserve and take pride in the fact that as Americans, the only thing holding us back, is us.

There’s freedom in knowing you are your problem and that you are also your solution.

Take Action and Take Care,

If you’d like to support the work I’m doing or donate for any benefit it may have brought to your life, the best way to do so would be via one of the means below.

Thank you.

Thank You For Your Support.