The True Meaning of Patriotism

Do not be fooled by what the mass media and the government may lead you to believe about what being patriotic means. Some believe, by deceit from our government and educational systems that being patriotic means to support our government and more precisely, our president. This is not patriotism at all. Supporting our troops, rather it is in time of war or peace, is not the meaning of patriotism. Please don’t get me wrong, we should support our troops in every way. The true meaning of patriotism is to believe in, uphold, and defend our Constitution and Bill of Rights. The Constitution and the Bill of Rights were not created for the American people to “serve” the government, but rather to set guidelines for our government to “serve” the American people. Knowing all to well how corrupt governments can exert it’s doctorial like authority over its countrymen, the founders of this great nation, the authors of both the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, put pen to parchment in order to create a structure that will protect the citizens of this nation from suffering the same fate that many had died for in order to gain their freedom (and ours) from British rule. Our forefathers knew of the dangers of government. They created a system to protect us from the government. Now, in this day and age, our rights, under the Constitution and Bill of Rights, are slowly being stripped away from us. If you sit by and do nothing about this fact, then you are not a patriot. If you support our troops, yet do nothing to save our Constitution, you are not a patriot. If you support the president, yet do nothing to protect our Bill of Rights, you are not a Patriot.
However, not knowing the true meaning of patriotism excuses the lack of action. But now that you know the meaning of patriotism there will be no excuse. To reiterate the meaning of patriotism, let’s look at the embodiment of patriotism. Who were patriots? John Adams, Aaron Burr, John Dickinson, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, John Hancock, Patrick Henry, John Jay, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, George Mason, Gouverneur Morris, George Washington, and Abigail Adams. These people were patriots in is truest form. So who are some modern day patriots? These patriots are such men as Ezra Taft Benson, Michael Peroutka, and Ron Paul. I’m sure there are more, but I am further sure that the list will not be as long as the patriots of our past. In closing, I want to end with a quote from Ezra Taft Benson: “I am for freedom and against slavery. I am for social progress and against socialism. I am for a dynamic economy and against waste. I am for the private competitive market and against unnecessary governmental intervention. I am for national security and against appeasement and capitulation to an obvious enemy.”