“What in the Hell Has Happened to This Country?”

By zapomicron @ Shutterstock.com

This week a Quinnipiac University survey asked Americans “What would you do if you were in the same position as Ukrainians are now, stay and fight or leave the country?”

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While 68% of Republicans said they would stay and fight, and 57% of Independents said the same, only 40% of Democrats said they would fight for their country. In response, Matthew Hennessey asks in The Wall Street Journal “What in the hell has happened to this country?”

He continues:

One can hardly imagine Americans of yesteryear exhibiting such high levels of yellow-bellyism. Where have all the Minutemen gone? The Molly Pitchers? The Audie Murphys? The Todd Beamers?

In the aftermath of Pearl Harbor and 9/11, when the nation was on its knees, the call was answered without hesitation by rock-ribbed Republicans and true-blue Democrats alike. Even the turbulent Vietnam era didn’t inspire such pusillanimity. Between 1964 and 1973, 2.2 million Americans were conscripted into military service. Another 15 million were granted deferments for one reason or another. Less than 2% of those who were eligible for the draft opted to evade it, either by going underground or emigrating. Some of them considered the war unjust. Say what you want about the merits of that argument, at least it was an argument.

This, on the other hand, is abject cowardice—at best. The conflict hypothesized by the Quinnipiac pollsters wasn’t a war for oil or empire. Poll respondents were asked to envision a foreign invader on their own front porch. Imagine Vladimir Putin has sent his shock troops to level your hometown, to occupy your high school and drop a missile on the hospital where you were born. If you won’t fight for hearth and home, what would you fight for?

The only appropriate response here is disgust. Making matters worse, the 52 percenters had the option to lie. It would have cost them nothing to say, “Yeah, I’m a patriot. I’ll stay and fight.” That suggests they put antipathy toward their country above the near-universal human impulse not to look like a quisling.

Being born an American is about the luckiest thing that could happen to a person. Sure, we have issues. Yes, Jan. 6 was bad. But government of the people, by the people, for the people, is still a rare thing. It’s still worth fighting for.

I never thought I’d live to see the day half of Democrats would toss the whole country to the wolves if given the chance.

Action Line: How can so many people in a broad subset of Americans be willing to abandon the country rather than fight for it? Perhaps giving up freedom is simply ingrained in Democrats, whose state politicians took every opportunity during COVID-19 to reduce that freedom and control the populace. If you live in a state where Democratic politicians locked down and mandated your family or friends out of business and into depression, despair and bankruptcy, it’s time to look for a better America. Your Survival Guy calls the states looking at their residents like valued customers Super States. Those looking at their residents like subjects to control are the Escape States. If you’re serious about making the move from an Escape State to a Super State, but can’t get going on your goal, I can help. Click here to subscribe to my free monthly Survive & Thrive letter, and I’ll help you break inertia and achieve your goal of freedom. But only if you’re serious.

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E.J. Smith - Your Survival Guy

E.J. Smith is Founder of YourSurvivalGuy.com, Managing Director at Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd., a Managing Editor of Richardcyoung.com, and Editor-in-Chief of Youngresearch.com. His focus at all times is on preparing clients and readers for “Times Like These.” E.J. graduated from Babson College in Wellesley, Massachusetts, with a B.S. in finance and investments. In 1995, E.J. began his investment career at Fidelity Investments in Boston before joining Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd. in 1998. E.J. has trained at Sig Sauer Academy in Epping, NH. His first drum set was a 5-piece Slingerland with Zildjians. He grew-up worshiping Neil Peart (RIP) of the band Rush, and loves the song Tom Sawyer—the name of his family’s boat, a Grady-White Canyon 306. He grew up in Mattapoisett, MA, an idyllic small town on the water near Cape Cod. He spends time in Newport, RI and Bartlett, NH—both as far away from Wall Street as one could mentally get. The Newport office is on a quiet, tree lined street not far from the harbor and the log cabin in Bartlett, NH, the “Live Free or Die” state, sits on the edge of the White Mountain National Forest. He enjoys spending time in Key West and Paris. Please get in touch with E.J. at ejsmith@yoursurvivalguy.com To sign up for my free monthly Survive & Thrive letter, click here.