Patriotism is understanding liberty can never be taken for granted. It is constantly watching those whom you have elected to manage your society to guarantee they never have an opportunity to steal your wealth or remove your freedoms, knowing that if you do not watch, human nature and history guarantee they will do both.

Patriotism is knowing your country's history, how the present evolved from the past. It's knowing your Constitution was created exclusively by wealthy and influential Americans, as poor, common citizens weren't invited to the Constitutional convention and few even knew it was being held. It's knowing many of our "Founding Fathers" preferred rule by a king or an aristocracy, and feared a true democracy, which simply by existing, would automatically affect their wealth and lifestyles. It's knowing the record of the republic's first 150 years is of economic class war waged against common Americans by wealthy Americans who did every dirty thing they could to keep the power of government from common Americans, so true democracy could never be birthed.

Patriotism means becoming political, for contrary to the beliefs of millions of Americans, of which you may be one, politics does have much to do with the quality of your life. It influences how little your employer pays you, and how much politicians can take from you with taxes. It influences how much legal leeway a manufacturer has in selling you inferior merchandise, or how much a retailer can steal from you with overpriced wares. It influences the laws requiring you, or your children, to fight in wars few believe necessary and many believe wrong.

It's knowing that, today, more than two hundred years after the creation of the Constitution of the United States, these are the reasons some Americans still fight for equality and justice. It's knowing it is the American System, and not merely the people currently holding political power that causes such inequities, and it is the System and not merely political parties or government officials that needs to be changed.

A true patriot understands all of these things and is prepared to fight and win the battles necessary to change the American System to a fairer and more honest one for all American citizens.

Are you a true patriot?