Appreciating Liberty

“What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly; it is dearness only that gives anything its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its good; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as freedom should not be highly rated.” ~ Thomas Paine

America has a dilemma unknown to any other country on the planet. Too many native-born Americans have no appreciation for how lucky they were to be born in America. That sounds rather silly, doesn’t it? However, every native-born American is born with “rights” that most citizens of the world simply don’t have. Therein lies the problem.

What we obtain too cheaply, we esteem too lightly

When an American is born, they immediately inherit all the privileges and freedoms paid for by their ancestors’ blood. Native-born Americans can’t fully appreciate their good fortune because they have no skin in the game. They have no way to measure their good fortune because they have nothing to compare it to. Sadly, today’s American education system has failed to provide our children with appropriate lessons about American history and how America fits into the worldwide picture.

However, America does have one group of people who fully appreciate their good fortune to be American citizens and have seen the opportunities native-born American simply don’t get. They are the legal immigrants who have gone through the long process to become “naturalized” American Citizens. For perspective, many of these American citizens risked their lives and the lives of their families to become American citizens, and that establishes value. These “new” Americans have an appreciation for what America is, and who Americans are.

Young Americans are fools, just like young people everywhere. When young and experiencing life, everything is new, and the arrogance of the young is that they think they are smarter than their predecessors. We have all been there, done that, and have the T-shirt. Some of us are old enough that our T-shirt is now in the rag bag. The young simply don’t know what they don’t know. To paraphrase Winston Churchill, if you are not liberal when you are young, you haven’t got a heart; if you aren’t conservative by the time you are 40, you haven’t got a brain. America has had more than its share of the brainless, old hippies who fried their brains on drugs or are just plain dumb.

Many of the young American protesters we see on television news every day have never had to work to feed themselves or strive in any meaningful way. Their parents have protected them from anything that may have been slightly unpleasant or unsettling. Parents provided them with debit cards and/or other financial support, sometimes into their 30s.

Modern society has much lower expectations for teens and young adults in 2025 than was the case in the 1960s, when most 18-year-olds graduating from high school were expected to find a job and become responsible, self-supporting members of society fairly quickly. The exception was those bound for college who were still expected to get a summer job to help pay their own way through school.

The young of the LGBT+ community are particularly ignorant because if they lived in any Islamic country in the world, which they claim to support, the Islamists would demand their death. Yet in America these idiots are advocating for Islam. America is the only place in the world where they can be that stupid and not fear death. And we must remember that there are Islamists in America that want to make America an Islamic country and replace the United States Constitution with Sharia Law. So, the LGBT+ community had better be careful what they wish for.

Today in America, and Canada for that matter, socialism/communism seems to be gaining a foot hold. This movement seems to be funded by domestic and foreign elitist oligarchs who wish to rule the world. These elitists have already bought off “Blue jurisdiction” politicians all over America, the latest being Zohran Mamdani, the potential New York City Mayor.

Let’s take a moment and look at some definitions.

Socialism: noun

1. Any of various theories or systems of social organization in which the means of producing and distributing goods is owned collectively or by a centralized government that often plans and controls the economy.
2. The stage in Marxist-Leninist theory intermediate between capitalism and communism, in which the means of production are collectively owned but a completely classless society has not yet been achieved.
3. A theory or system of social reform which contemplates a complete reconstruction of society, with a more just and equitable distribution of property and labor. In popular usage, the term is often employed to indicate any lawless, revolutionary social scheme.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

Communism: noun

1. A theoretical economic system characterized by the collective ownership of property and by the organization of labor for the common advantage of all members.
2. A system of government in which the state plans and controls the economy and a single, often authoritarian party holds power, claiming to make progress toward a higher social order in which all goods are equally shared by the people.
3. The Marxist-Leninist doctrine advocating revolution to overthrow the capitalist system and establish a dictatorship of the proletariat that will eventually evolve into a perfectly egalitarian and communal society.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

The operative words in both definitions are theory, theories, and theoretical. Post World War II the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a full-blown socialist/communist experiment that started in 1917 and died in 1981. After 74 years, the experiment failed miserably. Government owned farms were a failure, government owned grocery stores were a failure, government owned everything was a failure. The Karl Marx/Friedrick Engels economic and social theory was a complete failure, yet today ignorant people in America still think they can make the unworkable work.

A little-known fact of American history is that communism was tried by the Mayflower Pilgrims in the 1620s. It failed within a year or two. The reason it failed, and has failed every time since, is human nature. For socialism or communism to succeed requires perfect human beings. We mere mortals are severely flawed. Some of us are very productive and some of us are extremely lazy. A socialist or communist society, to be successful, requires every participant to pull his/her own weight. If some don’t pull their own weight and live off the labor of others, the doers get tired of being dragged down by those not willing to work as hard as they do. That is the unconquerable flaw in socialism and communism.

If you are paying attention, you might have noticed the One Big Beautiful Bill has eliminated some socialistic elements in the American government. There is now a work requirement for those receiving certain government benefits. American taxpayers are tired of those who are able to work not working. The Obama/Biden/Harris socialist good deal-deal is over.

As long as I can remember, many native-born Americans whine about how well legal immigrants do financially in America. I have only one small bit of advice; compare these people’s work ethic with your own work ethic. Naturalized Americans see the opportunities available in America that native-born Americans are blind to. That makes all the difference in the world.

There is a solution that would help most young people learn to appreciate what they have by being born in America. Like several other countries in the world, America could implement two years of mandatory government service between high school and the rest of their lives. This could be military service that has post service Veterans Administration benefits. It could also be federal civil service or state or local civil service. The best way to learn about government is to be part of government. Each and every American would then have some skin in the game.

Every American needs to appreciate what God has granted them simply because they were born in America.