Difference between revisions of "Essay: How I found my American patriotism again and began to appreciate the West more"

Revision as of 03:19, December 23, 2023

The flag of the United States

I grew up in during a patriotic time in the United States. And I still recall America putting the man on the moon in 1969. And Ronald Reagan's speeches fueled my patriotism still more. So did the USA Olympic Hockey Team beating the Soviet Union's Olympic Hocket team in 1980.

However, at my university, I took a Sociology 101 course from a Western Marxist professor and he talked about all the problems in the USA (A Western Marxist is someone who recognizes that the Soviet Union was tyrannical!). At some level, I knew I wasn't getting a completely fairminded representation of the major facts (A fellow classmate and I laughed about the student who talked to the professor frequently at the end of the class who wore a green trenchcoat who we dubbed "Radical Ray"). On the other hand, the class was kind of a downer that brought up some factual negatives about the United States and its culture such as the high divorce rate in the United States and other social ills.

But at some level, the class made me dissatisfied with the status quo in general and so did the liberal university I attended. It also helped make me more open to the things the Christian teaching assistants who were sharing their faith that I had in my Macroeconomics, Algebra, and Calculus 101 classes. After all, you begin to appreciate paradise more as you begin to realize how hellish the earth can be. In other words, the existence of evil is a type of argument for the existence of good and the supreme good. After all, you can't have evil if good doesn't exist. And in my sophomore year in college, I became a Christian.

The 2004 movie Miracle about the USA Olympic Hockey Team beating the Soviet Union's Olympic Hocket team in 1980 definitely increased my patriotism.

To some degree, my patriotism increased due to being exposed to more conservative news and conservative content at Conservapedia. And then I started looking at the history of a famous war hero that I am related to and that increased my patriotism as he made a very positive influence on the world.

The American conservative and patriot Steve Turley definitely increased my patriotism. See also: Steve Turley on a new conservative age rising

Recently, I have been exposed to commentary/news that is very pro-Russia/anti-Western and doesn't give a fairminded picture of things such as the fact that Vladimir Putin is a corrupt kleptocrat and an authoritarian or about the the rising rule of communist idiocracy in China. Nor did it cover the Russian war crimes in Ukraine. And of course, Just War Theory was never brought up in relation to Vladimir Putin's "special military operation" on February 24, 2022.

But it was an Indian citizen, namely User:NishantXavier, that stoked my American patriotism and put it into overdrive. He pointed out that a person spewing pro-Russia, anti-Westernism and anti-Americanism wasn't taking into account how authoritarian China and Russia are. This caused me to appreciate more all the good things that the USA and the West have.

And as a result of this matter, I began to further research the favorable things about the USA and the West which I give below.

Map of the United States

The United States will be the leading power in the world for the foreseeable future:

• The United States will be the leading power in the world for the foreseeable future

Why has the West been so successful?

See: Why has the West been so successful?

The United States has an above average constitution

See also: United States Constitution

An above-average constitution with a separation of powers, a bill of rights and the electoral college system that gives sensible rural people influence.

Please see the videos:

• Separation of Powers, Federalist Society video

• Checks and Balances, Lincoln Learning Solutions

• The Constitution: Why A Republic?, Prager University

• The Constitution: Our Bill of Rights, Prager University

• The U.S. Constitution: A Nation of States, Prager University

Research indicates that in the long-term, non-authoritarian countries are more likely to experience greater economic growth. See: Time Under Authoritarian Rule and Economic Growth, CORI Working Paper No. 2007-02

In addition, there is research indicating that economies disrupted by political turmoil/unrest grow at an average rate 2 percentage points slower than those that are untroubled, with a persistent lag in the growth rate of 1 to 2 percentage points in the succeeding year.^[1][2]

Reproduction of painting of George Washington, Benjamin Franklin and others signing the U.S. Constitution in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania by Henry Hintermeister.

Patriotic songs about America

• Patriotic songs about America

25 most American patriotic movies of all time

• The 25 most patriotic films of all time

My favorite American patriot movie scene

• Miracle Board Room Interview

In the classic 2004 hockey movie Miracle, coach Herb Brooks said about the 1980 USA Olympic Hockey team beating the Soviet Union Olympic hockey team:

"The only way we can compete with the Eastern Bloc teams is if we're willing to change. Change the way we train, the way we prepare, even change our schedule. I think we need to make it longer. You know, tougher. Much more competitive. We also need to change the way we play the game. My plan is to adopt a new style. A hybrid of the Soviet school and the Canadian school. A combination that requires the highest level of conditioning, speed, creativity, and most of all, team chemistry." - Coach Herb Brooks, Miracle Board Room Interview

Coach Herb Brooks, Coach of the 1980 U.S. Olympics Hockey Team

User:Conservative's essays

• User:Conservative's essays

See also

• Essay:Skepticism about China remaining a global power
• Essay: Why I am not bullish on Russia's future

References