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Letter: Patriotism is nation’s salvation

Ventura County Star

What would cause a generation of citizens to jettison their culture, which previous generations sacrificed blood and treasure to establish? A misinformed presentation of their living situation.

A new perspective drilled into their psyche, combined with the fact that they have never suffered any real hardships. They have been taught to feel ashamed — that they do not deserve their benefits. The latter may be partly true.

Actions influence ones’ thinking more deeply than thinking influences ones’ actions. Intellectuals may dispute this, but intellectuals often lack intelligence.

Previous generations of Americans endured real physical and mental hardships. They committed themselves to overcome obstacles. Life in America today is not conducive to testing one’s mettle.

That mettle, when challenged and strengthened, produces an appreciation not understood by those who were spared the conflict. There is a corrosive insistence on removing obstacles that build character.

Witness the droves of immigrants, having arrived legally, who maintained family and cultural cohesiveness and determination in the interest of developing a stake in the American Dream. This is the stuff which develops patriotism. College students now find themselves driven to destroy their homeland and history, deceived by bitter, sinister academics.

Prevailing post-modern curricula is marinated in politics. Progressivism is the Holy Grail. Socialism becomes the compass to a Utopia that even Thomas More admitted was an unachievable satire. But patriotism is important. The goal of progressivism is to demolish all traditions. The result is anarchy and chaos. Patriotism guides the mind and heart toward an appreciation of the economy of order.

The ingredients necessary to encourage patriotism have intentionally been vilified and discarded. Those who resist are purposefully marginalized and dismissed by the juggernaut of political correctness.

Patriotism is our nation’s salvation, but pundits and talking heads are selling it as a vice.

Bernie Milligan, Ventura