Patriots: For over 26 years, your generosity has made it possible to offer The Patriot Post without a subscription fee to military personnel, students, and those with limited means. Please support the 2024 Year-End Campaign today.

November 27, 2015

Restoring a Sense of Gratitude

Many Americans still believe in this nation’s enduring principles. It’s easy, alas, for our gratitude to become perfunctory — more something we say than something we feel. But take it from someone who has traveled to many countries: A look at what some people around the globe endure can make your appreciation genuine.

Many Americans still believe in this nation’s enduring principles. It’s easy, alas, for our gratitude to become perfunctory — more something we say than something we feel. But take it from someone who has traveled to many countries: A look at what some people around the globe endure can make your appreciation genuine.

Examples abound, but consider this item from The Economist:

“Earlier this year the Chinese government arrested five women who were campaigning against sexual harassment on buses. This was not because China’s leaders believe that groping is a good thing, or that it is acceptable if perpetrated on public transport. It was because the Communist Party is wary of any organization it does not control.

"The five feminists were entirely peaceful, and they were not advocating anything subversive like democracy. But they were organized and demonstrating in public, and that made them seem dangerous. After a month in detention they were released on bail, but they remain under police surveillance and could still be hauled back to face elastic charges such as ‘picking quarrels and provoking trouble.’ ”

Most of us wouldn’t think twice about supporting or even organizing a peaceful demonstration. Indeed, the U.S. Constitution recognizes our right to do so. But not in China (and some other countries as well). There, your government looks at you with suspicion and expects you to fall in line. Don’t make waves, even if that means putting up with humiliation and harassment. Without question, we can be thankful we’re free to speak up.

But wait, some may say. Haven’t there been dark periods in our history when even peaceful demonstrators have been mistreated by those under color of authority? Sadly, yes. But these abuses have been rightly denounced and corrected. True, not always as quickly as we’d like. But the fact remains that they have.

You can’t flout the Constitution indefinitely. We live in a nation of laws, laws designed to promote and protect liberty, and those laws are enforced. Imperfectly at times, of course — we’re still governed by human beings as fallible as ourselves. But the mere fact that we can make changes, that we can fix things, is a great blessing — one that is denied to many people worldwide. We should certainly thank God for that.

The fight for freedom, however, is never really settled once and for all. The question is, are we winning or losing? You can find many prophets of doom and gloom, and to be fair, some of them raise valid concerns. But I can’t count myself among their number.

Yes, we can look at the bureaucratic power grabs in Washington, and the paralysis of political correctness that inflicts many campuses, and feel a sense of despair. But the fact is, most Americans still endorse the ideas our country was founded on, from limited constitutional government and free enterprise, to individual opportunity and a culture of responsibility.

Being an optimist is never easy, and it’s rarely fashionable. But I remember what Ronald Reagan said so many times: “Trust the people.” That’s my policy, too.

It would be easy to lose hope and resign ourselves to a future of decline and mediocrity. Well, our country’s problems are serious, but they are not insurmountable. They can be solved.

Some Americans may have lost faith in the future. But a greater number still believe in this nation, in its enduring principles, and in its unlimited promise.

That’s reason alone, as we enjoy our turkey and parades, to be truly thankful.


Republished from The Heritage Foundation.

Who We Are

The Patriot Post is a highly acclaimed weekday digest of news analysis, policy and opinion written from the heartland — as opposed to the MSM’s ubiquitous Beltway echo chambers — for grassroots leaders nationwide. More

What We Offer

On the Web

We provide solid conservative perspective on the most important issues, including analysis, opinion columns, headline summaries, memes, cartoons and much more.

Via Email

Choose our full-length Digest or our quick-reading Snapshot for a summary of important news. We also offer Cartoons & Memes on Monday and Alexander’s column on Wednesday.

Our Mission

The Patriot Post is steadfast in our mission to extend the endowment of Liberty to the next generation by advocating for individual rights and responsibilities, supporting the restoration of constitutional limits on government and the judiciary, and promoting free enterprise, national defense and traditional American values. We are a rock-solid conservative touchstone for the expanding ranks of grassroots Americans Patriots from all walks of life. Our mission and operation budgets are not financed by any political or special interest groups, and to protect our editorial integrity, we accept no advertising. We are sustained solely by you. Please support The Patriot Fund today!


The Patriot Post and Patriot Foundation Trust, in keeping with our Military Mission of Service to our uniformed service members and veterans, are proud to support and promote the National Medal of Honor Heritage Center, the Congressional Medal of Honor Society, both the Honoring the Sacrifice and Warrior Freedom Service Dogs aiding wounded veterans, the National Veterans Entrepreneurship Program, the Folds of Honor outreach, and Officer Christian Fellowship, the Air University Foundation, and Naval War College Foundation, and the Naval Aviation Museum Foundation. "Greater love has no one than this, to lay down one's life for his friends." (John 15:13)

★ PUBLIUS ★

“Our cause is noble; it is the cause of mankind!” —George Washington

Please join us in prayer for our nation — that righteous leaders would rise and prevail and we would be united as Americans. Pray also for the protection of our Military Patriots, Veterans, First Responders, and their families. Please lift up your Patriot team and our mission to support and defend our Republic's Founding Principle of Liberty, that the fires of freedom would be ignited in the hearts and minds of our countrymen.

The Patriot Post is protected speech, as enumerated in the First Amendment and enforced by the Second Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America, in accordance with the endowed and unalienable Rights of All Mankind.

Copyright © 2024 The Patriot Post. All Rights Reserved.

The Patriot Post does not support Internet Explorer. We recommend installing the latest version of Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox, or Google Chrome.