Hello Fellow Patriots:
I am 65 years old. Your age is an important determiner of what decade(s) you might have a particular
hankering to return to. For me, it was the 70s and 80s. By no means were these perfect decades. There
was the winddown of Vietnam, race riots, and much negativism you could easily point to. But it was also
a time of opportunity, family was still central to our values, people believed in God and our economy
was revving up as it does from time to time in a never-ending cycle that represents the normal ebb and
flow of ups and downs, but until lately, always trending upwards.
A lot has changed in how we view our special place. Let me ask you something. Have you ever looked at
the same picture filtered in numerous different ways? Same subject, but entirely different perspective.
It is the same way with America. Some see it as the promised land, while others see it as the devil’s
construct. We each have our own set of filters derived from our upbringing, life experiences, and where
we live, among many factors that helped us create the filters that allow different people to view the
same subject but with entirely different takeaways.
Let’s jump in and explore these eight filters in more detail:
Globalism
Of all the factors we present to you today, Globalism is one of the big three. Books are written on this
single subject, so we can only skim one or two high points. Globalism in America for our first 200 years
or so constituted two recurring themes.
a. Protection of American Commerce throughout the world
b. Becoming the dominant political force throughout the globe by promoting our theories of
democracy and capitalism
We largely accomplished these two imperatives. Our country entered this world in a fiery baptism but
emerged as more than just a new country, we set a tone for the entire world. An interlocking set of
beliefs set down in a largely new concept…our Constitution facilitated that. It was not long before our
fledgling nation set a small fleet of ships to Tripoli to fight the Barbary Pirates and in the process wound
up with a twofer…it both stopped the piracy for a long time and started a process that showed the world
what standing up to tyranny looked like. It was our debut as a kind of policeman to the world.
With two oceans protecting our shores we felt safe and secure. War would not come to our shores
(except for war with Great Britain in 1812 and Pearl Harbor in Hawaii) ever again. We now fought wars
preemptively to ensure commerce continued unfettered and to spread our ideals preventing fighting
adversaries on our beaches. This calculus all changed in 1957 when Russia tested its first ICBM and we
no longer could depend on a war warning to build up our forces. This changed us in many profound
ways and set us on the course we are on today, with engagement around the world necessary to ensure
we would not face a nuclear Pearl Harbor. Unfortunately, Globalism has led to many other
consequences, many of them counter to America’s interests. This is the natural lead into our next
subject.
America’s Role in the World
Think of the world as a crockpot with each nation contributing various ingredients. What results is
something distinctly different from any single ingredient in the pot. Sometimes it tastes good and
sometimes not so much. Good cooks and bad cooks. America has frequently been a good cook! We have
saved the world from despots, given the most comfort and support during times of natural and
unnatural disaster, flood the world with our innovations, medicines, and culture. I have traveled
throughout the world. One of the most memorable moments I experienced was when I was working
deep in the interior of Senegal on a construction project when I observed a dust cloud coming down the
road. When it passed me, I recognized the familiar logo of the Coca-Cola Company! America is truly
everywhere. Thinking back, that encapsulated, in a single moment the realization of the power of
American commerce, social acclimatization, and more. Anywhere you go in the world are American hats,
T-shirts, and music. People want to be Americans. Not all, but very many. It’s important to accept that.
For everyone who hates us, a hundred love us, aspire to be like us, or come here. We have, as a country
been the most successful force for good the world has ever seen! We must continue to engage and
encourage others who might aspire to be like us in their own country. That is both the message and the
imperative that we must never lose focus on.
The United States continues to be the most consequential arbiter of what’s good in the world. It’s only
in the last 40 years or so that our role has begun to change. Maybe we’ve been too successful. Perhaps
we gave away our moral mantle a bit at a time. But there continues to be an incredibly important need
for American leadership. There are only a couple of bullies that could realistically challenge our moral
leadership. We give up that role at our peril.
Family
There are tight-knit families throughout the world. It is the natural order of things to have loving parents
who commit to putting their children ahead of their own needs. Do I have to explain to my audience the
implicit benefits of a two-parent (male and female mind you) home? I despise anyone that promotes
non-nuclear families as equal to or even superior to the traditional family unit. It’s taken a generation
for that nonsense to somehow take hold and become at least partially accepted. The hubris in believing
that the foundational concept and implementation of what created the entire human race is somehow
wrong. More than hubris, the destruction, subversion, and promotion of alternative lifestyles has
undermined our entire belief system that now screams…no judgment, do your thing, marry a dolphin (as
someone did in France), just do whatever you feel like doing at the moment. Our government,
institutions, and too many dimwitted individuals now parrot the same nonsense without any
introspection or sense of history. Gender fluidity? Are you kidding me? You can’t allow yourself to be
sucked into a belief system that is fundamentally at odds with logic and evolution.
Family is everything! It is the Alpha and Omega. Yes, add God to that shortlist, but if you want to raise
smart, healthy, and productive children, give them a grounding that makes sense. Don’t create an
artificial construct that has no natural place in nature and defend it, as if you’re saying something is true,
makes it true. 1plus1equals2 is the fundamental logic that defines all things in life; including what
constitutes a family.
Patriotism
Many nations are patriotic. Nations that lose their patriotism are generally in decline. Patriotism and
Nationalism are closely linked. Globalism is the antithesis of Patriotism and the beginning of a one-world
government. Globalism seeks the extermination of Patriotism and Nationalism as not only being
redundant but in opposition to itself.
There are two forms of Patriotism. Natural and Fundamental. Natural patriotism is the type of
patriotism you get like rooting for your home team. Your team may not be the best in the world, but it is
your team. It works the same way in countries. Many, if not most people are loyal to where they were
born. That’s why some immigrants (we’ll talk about that later) come here but don’t ever choose to
assimilate; they never become patriotic, they’re here for the goodies. The other kind, what I term
fundamental patriotism is more like a religion, based on a series of truths, layered one upon the other.
American patriotism is that kind. Our beliefs in freedom, the equality of man, and that the fruits of our
labor should belong to no one except ourselves are the essence of being an American.
We are rightfully patriots, and we must be patriotic to defend our ideals and place in the world. Without
patriotism, we will slowly wither on the vine as we become less sure of who we are and why it is
essential not to stray too far from our foundational beliefs as we have begun to. Let’s amplify that a bit.
No one has anything coming to them. What was true in the past is not guaranteed in the future as our
government now “guarantees” more and more rights to people without requiring a countervailing set of
efforts and success from these very same people. The government has now institutionalized the concept
of “Big Brother.” There is no “Big Brother, it is a fantasy that only seeks to justify the taking of
somebody’s wealth to give to another and is antipatriotic at its core.
Big Government
God help us! Our Founding Fathers understood it. Conservative thinkers understand it. Humanists
understand it. Big Government is the greatest threat to our continued way of life and survival. Through
policy actions, the government creates the conditions for our success or failure. To the extent that policy
decisions are made for partisan reasons, we are condemning ourselves to not just mediocrity, but
extinction. Just look at issues like education, race, civil rights, immigration, climate change, and more
than not just can, but will change the world we live in ways that people never voted on, and are
powerless to effectively oppose.
We have allowed Governmental inertia, an entrenched politicized bureaucracy, and politicians whose
sole goal is to keep their seat at the table no matter what it takes, to contrive and cajole to maintain and
increase their power, regardless of the long-term effects on the people they ostensibly serve. Long
sentence to describe an insidious and unrestrained central government that exists largely for its own
purposes and is at odds with what is the correct strategy to maintain our position in the world and
promote our citizen's health and welfare. I continually say, “We get the government we deserve.” With
more and more people voting to take from those that have to transfer to those that demand, we are in a
continuous graveyard spiral. I don’t know what we can do to change this course without a revolution.
Technology
Let’s begin with the statement that technology is a double-edged sword. So many wonderful
technological breakthroughs have made our lives easier, fun, safer, and more productive. Ok. Now that
we got that out of the way…technology is strangling us in a manner that no one ever dreamt of. For
example:
a. I know of five-year-olds with smartphones. Why does a five-year-old need a cell phone? They should not be off on their own and there is just too much bad material on the internet. It is a parent’s job to teach their children foundational truths, not the internet. If you change that age from 5 to 12 I would say the same thing. A smartphone or other device in the hands of squishy little minds is an invitation to no good. Is your child mature enough to handle the awesome responsibility that having the entire internet as your babysitter implies? How does a parent’s role change when he/she is the last to know or be asked?
b. Social Media—if your child has access to a computer or a smart device, they more than likely
already have multiple Social Media accounts. Not only do they get to interact with other children, but they also get to interact with grown-ups acting as children for nefarious purposes. Add to that the psychological trauma many kids experience through online bullying, peer pressure, and shaming and you understand the profound effect social media has on your child. It is a direct line from people you don’t know into the brain of the child you love so much. The risk is unfathomable.
c. Remote Learning—here’s an oxymoron. Remote Learning is the greatest failure in American Education since the introduction of New Math. The vast majority of kids who were taught in this manner fell backward and did not advance in knowledge. https://www.foxnews.com/media/msnbc-panel-pummels-failure-remote-learning-wisdom
d. Work from home has had a huge effect on our productivity and creativity. Services like Zoom and others have made a fortune but are we really doing better as a people? I don’t see it. Only a minority of us are self-actualized. Most of us need to be around others and need bosses to review, observe and instruct us. Teams work better when you see each other eyeball to eyeball. https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/apr/08/working-from-home-is-a-failed-experiment
These four categories of technology will have long-lasting negative effects on our children. It’s not in our
scope today to discuss solutions; just awareness and a bit of fear if you have a child and had not
recognized this threat, both to your parental control and your child’s development.
Social Mores
It’s not difficult for anyone who regularly follows the news to realize that there is a huge societal push to
redefine what is moral and correct. Whether you are discussing gender, race, economic equality,
religion, clean energy, incarceration, climate change, or myriad other topics that we have latched onto
as “the” most important imperative. All of the above and more infer your duty to comply with what
amounts to a quasi-religious adherence to the tenets and edicts of this or that orthodoxy.
Reminds me a lot of the Inquisition. All other cherished values are secondary to these demands to
acquiesce. Parents are virtually warned not to interfere with State and Federal Education mandates and
if they do, there are considered terrorists. How did we let this happen?
Immigration
Immigration has become a kind of Social More unto itself. But it is so huge, so diabolical in its
implementation, it’s just monstrous on its face. Does anyone care to give me the logical reasons as to
why open borders and mass migration of mostly uneducated, frequently violent, or frequently
unproductive individuals is a good thing for America? It isn’t. But what it does accomplish is three things:
1. It convinces more and more Americans that they have a government that is out of touch with
their wishes and that they are powerless to challenge.
2. Its sole function is the dilution of the current American population. There are currently more
than 22 million illegal aliens in the United States costing us more than $150 Billion. There will
likely be more than 30 million by the end of Biden’s first term.
https://www.fairus.org/sites/default/files/2022-04/Total%20Number%20of%20Illegal%20Aliens_2021.pdf
(Numbers revised upward by the author to account for the passage of time and new
information.)
3. American lives are lost through criminal activity, smuggled drugs that would not make it into the
country if not for lax border controls, vehicular accidents caused by both the interdiction of
illegals coming into the country and driving in our country without being legal to do so.
Add your favorite to the above list. There are other reasons as well. The major takeaway is that rampant
immigration was a choice, a decision by the current administration and Democrats. Heck, they want to
make it easier to come here, not harder.
If we want our country to be a reflection of how we were in the past that made us unique, special, and
happy; we must revisit what we did to so profoundly change who we are. There’s always a way back. It
takes guts and determination to buck authorities who see you only as some kind of nuisance or terrorist.
Too many of our leaders and those in the bureaucracy are not your friends and do not represent your
interests honestly and fairly. They work for what makes them more powerful and like some tick, they
burrow into our skin and suck our blood.
I love America as you do. Rather than give up or accede to Big Brother’s edicts on how you are to live
your life, don’t negotiate (that’s their way to keep you occupied.) Instead, do what they do not expect;
fight them everywhere and at every level. Set the terms of the debate and give no ground. We are
fighting for our very existence. I hope you believe it and take that to heart!
God Bless America and especially at this time of extreme suffering; Ukraine.
Allan J. Feifer
Patriot
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