Hating On America...

I awakened on the morning of the 4th of July to breaking news on the telly.  It reported that only 27% of our citizens now consider themselves "extremely patiotic."

And only another 24% consider themselves "patriotic."  Meaning nearly half of us don't like America.  I am both shocked and pissed.

These numbers are down from 74% and 12%, respectively, a decade ago!  What has changed?  Or perhaps rather, what previously buried reality has now surfaced?

You can count me in that "extrememly patriotic" category, fellow Pilgrim, and I'm guessing you are as well.  So how the Hell did we go from flag-waving patriotism to hating on America?  

Here's my thoughts on the matter...

I had to be taught to be patriotic.  I wasn't born with it.  I learned it from my parents, of course.  They were very patriotic.  But I also learned it in school.  Starting in the 1st grade.  I was taught by a succession of my teachers how America was founded.  And by whom.  And exactly who our Founding Fathers were.  And what sorts of risks they faced in order to break from England and lead the rebellion.  And how many of them died fighting the Revolutionary War (21,134).  

And we learned about how we got our National Anthem.  And also the Pledge of Allegiance, and why we stood and repeated it with our hands over our hearts, facing the Flag.

Before the start of every school day.  Every.  Single.  One.    

We learned about Abe Lincoln, our 16th President.  And how he freed the slaves via the Emancipation Proclamation.  

We learned that we lost more than 620,000 of our almost all-White Northern soliders freeing those slaves.  White soldiers.  Fighting and dying to free Black slaves.

Could someone please tell me when OUR reparations begin?  

And we learned how we lost another 56,000 in World War 1, that "War to end all wars."  

Ahem.

And we lost 320,000 in World War 2, fighting both East and West in the Axis Powers.  More than 55% of our entire Gross National Product was invested in winning that contest.  A win-at-all-costs fight for freedom (had we not won we'd all be speaking German).  

At one point Ford Motor Co. Detroit plant was producing a turn-key, ready-to-fly B-17 Liberator bomber every hour!   

And we lost 32,500 in the Korean "Military Action,"* and another 55,000 in the Vietnam "conflict," and thousands more in Iraq and Afghanistan and all over the world.   

We've fought 118 wars and many, many more skirmishes, and conflicts, and military actions in order to purchase, and then defend our freedoms.  Do those who now hate on America know that?  Do they care?  Has anyone bothered to ask them?  Has anyone bothered to tell them?  

I'd bet not. 

These men and women I've outlined fought and died to protect our way of life.  Are the teachers in our schools teaching that?  Are they teaching patriotism?  Or are they teaching their pupils that America is racist, and mysoginistic, and homophobic, and every other negative stereotype one can imagine?  Are they spending more time on gender reassignment and pronoun selection than on the tools they'll to compete in an every more competitive world.  Our kids had to learn it somewhere, or NOT learn it somewhere, and I think it's a big part of the teachers job to make it happen.*  

They are not making it happen.

I've done a bit of research on the subject and I can tell you that 55% of every dollar collected in property taxes in every one of the 3,007 counties in America is earmarked for education.  More Than Half!  Should we put civilian parent "minders" in our younger grades to make sure our history is being taught?  To make sure than "Rainbow" flag comes down and our American Flag goes up?  I'd be willing to volunteer some of my quality time to oversee such a project.  Would you?

I'm pretty sure the search for a quality education for their kids is a very big part of why so many are leaving New York and California** and Illinois and New Jersey for Texas and Florida and South Carolina.    

Are we getting our money's worth from our proterty tax dollar?  Do we get a moneyback guarantee?  

Should we? 

*   Three of my daughters are teachers.  In areas where freedom is permitted to reign.  They are not a part of this problem. 

**  More than 800,000 folks chose to up and move from California since 2021.  And they're the ones who could afford to do so.  That means they took their six-figure incomes and their tax bases with them.  Boy Guv is going to have to think up some really good excuses...