Do You Know What You Are?
There has been a lot of talk by pundits pursuant to who is best to occupy the White House for a minimum the next four years. The question, however, is why should we believe them.
Politicians and the media, depending upon which side of the political aisle you are on, would have us believe that patriotism is synonymous and defined by which political party you support. Unless you belong to the Socialist Party or Communist Party in which case there is no such thing as patriotism, but I digress.
The questions I have for you is how do you define patriotism? What is your understanding of same? Does your definition of patriotism have its basis in a historical perspective?
Words have meaning and unless we understand the meaning we do not understand the word. If we do not understand the word, we do not understand the meaning, if we do not understand the meaning how then can we understand the context in which the word used? The tragedy is the majority of people are quick to apply certain labels to define themselves and/or others without a clear understanding of what said labels factually mean.
We are quick to call people liberals, conservatives, centrists, constructionists, and constitutionalists, but what do those assignations mean? What does it mean to be a Democrat, Republican, Independent, or Libertarian? How many reading this can accurately define the aforementioned political identifiers we all use on a daily basis?
I’m inclined to reason that few can accurately define these political labels and even fewer can place them in the proper historical context they were born from. Before you ask why is this important, think about it this way.
Suppose you were given ten dollars and told to go to the store and bring back the homemade Mabi. Now suppose you knew that Mabi was a beverage but nothing more. Suppose once you arrived at the store the clerk realizes you do not know what Mabi is and sells you Malta instead. Then arriving back home you are made aware that not only is Malta not remotely close to Mabi, but Malta costs significantly more than Mabi.
Now let’s add to this scenario that the store closed the day of your purchase and will not reopen for two weeks while the small family business is closed for vacation. The obvious point is that you are stuck with the wrong item because you let someone else choose it for you based on your ignorance. You did not take time to make sure you understood what the item was that you were to buy – you just took the money and off you went to let someone else identify the item for you.
This is not dissimilar to what is taking place in the political arena. You are being asked to back a political party because they are assigning labels to themselves that you think you understand when in reality many do not.
This election is about retaining our Constitutional right to choose. It is not about saving Democrat, Republican, Independent, Libertarian, or saving America as such.
In order to understand that, we must first understand what it means to be what we self-identify as because if we do not, then someone else is defining it for us.
Specific to that point, the most important assignation is one born out of action and not one born out of a lapel pin or stick on label. That assignation is patriot. A patriot doesn’t heed labels; they heed the summum bonum, party affiliation and party dictates notwithstanding. The characteristic that sets patriots apart is that they are not blind ideologues – they are pragmatists who are willing to risk all for the welfare of the whole.
TAKE ACTION: Every $1 helps The Daily Rant reach 1,000 new readers with this article.
PLEASE CHOOSE ONE: [ci-button url=”https://mf182.infusionsoft.com/app/orderForms/The-Daily-Rant-Digital-Door-Knock”]$20[/ci-button] [ci-button url=”https://mf182.infusionsoft.com/app/orderForms/The-Daily-Rant-Digital-Door-Knock-50″]$50[/ci-button] [ci-button url=”https://mf182.infusionsoft.com/app/orderForms/The-Daily-Rant-Digital-Door-Knock-100″]$100[/ci-button]
Watch The Daily Rant YouTube Channel Here
About the Author
Mychal Massie
Mychal S. Massie is an ordained minister who spent 13 years in full-time Christian Ministry. Today he serves as founder and Chairman of the Racial Policy Center (RPC), a think tank he officially founded in September 2015. RPC advocates for a colorblind society. He was founder and president of the non-profit “In His Name Ministries.” He is the former National Chairman of a conservative Capitol Hill think tank; and a former member of the think tank National Center for Public Policy Research. Read entire bio here