There are people who talk about peace (talk is cheap). There are people who tear things down and pillage and burn (you know them by their actions). There are people who sit back and watch from a distance (armchair critics). There are people who “tough it out” each day and do their jobs no matter how dangerous or unpopular (they “suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune”).  There are people who lead (contribute), and people who follow (those who criticize, blame, disparage and talk constantly, but show no responsible actions).

The point of this is: Who are you?  Do you support mindlessly those with the biggest mouths who are supported by media with no conscience and the wealthy with slanted ideals? Or do you start with a clear, unbiased conscience and selectively add information to your thinking that is supported with facts?  Are you an individual or do you need to be “led by the nose” by a governing body at any level that decrees and mandates and demands your unquestioning obedience?  Are you a free-standing patriot or simply a “cog in a wheel”  turned by a machine that levels everything to the lowest common level?  We all need to answer these questions while we still can.  You are either self-motivated and think for yourself or unmotivated and consequently let your thinking be controlled by a person or persons who will dictate your very thoughts.

Socialism kills!  It neutralizes your thoughts along with your music, the arts and all creativity.  In socialism, those who think outside the machine must be eliminated so the vast playing field of non-thinkers (cogs) are not disturbed.  At this point the thinker is driven underground, and becomes an outlaw, living a dangerous existence in order to keep some semblance of sanity alive.  All experiments in various types of socialism have ended in major conflict between the creative (thinker) and the cogs (sheep).  We are getting dangerously close to a rift in our own culture, our religions, and our society in general with those who would eliminate all traces of individualism, and civility.  Everything is pointing to this.  And it has all been done before with the same disastrous consequences, for it in fact,  becomes war.  A war between the individual mind and the mindless mass.

All people need to wake up now!  There is no later!  Teach your children to think (well and early) before it becomes impossible, for this is where we either win or lose.  Independence becomes so very dear only when it is eliminated and we at last realize what it is that we have lost. It is then that the battle begins to regain what we have lost, yet again, with the blood of our sons and daughters whose lives are the most dear to us.

For the love of God and our nation, pledge your allegiance again and again  –  and mean it!   With every fiber of your being!  Our forefathers and mothers, after much study,  had it right, not the charlatans who ridicule our worship, our culture, and our society.  Heed their distant call with renewed respect.  Respect our flag, our National Anthem, our Pledge of Allegiance, our Constitution, our Declaration of Independence, our Bill of Rights, and our laws, privileges, and responsibilities.  Respect our officers of law enforcement and first responders who keep us safe, our teachers who lead us to knowledge, and our religious leaders who keep our morals and ethics grounded. Our freedoms and liberties are not free or doled out. They must be worked for responsibly.  Earned and treasured.  Never taken for granted or assumed.

Take the month of July and think about what we have as a nation, and how we must work together to keep it intact.  Patriotism must be instilled in every heart so that it can grow and toughen and demand leaders that represent “We the people.”  At this point, the government in all of its forms works for us, and it will remain that way as long as we can still lustily and all together,  sing “God Bless America!”