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Hernando Today

Americans Should Proudly Speak Up For The USA

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By DOMENICK J. MAGLIO, PH.D., Neo Traditionalist

Hernando Today

Published: January 30, 2009

It is easy to understand why foreigners dislike the USA. Night after night on our own and foreign television and in the press, America is portrayed as a violent, prejudiced and greedy nation that has accumulated wealth and power through exploiting foreign nations.

America is hated worldwide partly due to jealousy of our success but mostly because of the horrible way our and the foreign press corps depict our nation. Any wholesome news is rarely published as it would either not be sensational enough or appear as USA propaganda. Significant positive events, no matter how real, also would be dismissed by the people as propaganda. The result of this constant negative reporting creates the false image that the USA is a country to be despised.

Chavez is cheered for his anti-American diatribes in the United Nations. No wonder the Miss America candidate was booed in Mexico. Throughout the world there are politically staged anti-American protests casting America as a regime on a par with Nazi Germany.

This constant negativity is not only impacting our international image, it is affecting our best and brightest. Our students are not taught about the incredible personal sacrifices of our countrymen throughout our history. Instead they receive anti-American propaganda emphasizing individual frailties and policy shortcomings while dismissing the overwhelming generosity of our nation toward other peoples of the world. The heroes of our past and our victories in liberating nations and assisting in humanitarian endeavors are unrecognized or spun to render them worthless.

The answer to remedying this distorted view of America is simple. Citizens must do their duty to explain to others the facts about America. We need to teach about our incredible history based on our Constitution and Bill of Rights to our own children and the students in our schools. No one else is better than the American people to tell the truth about America. It is up to each and every citizen to dispel ridiculous conspiratorial theories spread by the likes of Hollywood's Michael Moore and Oliver Stone.

First, parents should point out to their children those citizens in the neighborhood whose daily exemplary lives are inspiring to them. They need to tell the children the wonderful things others have done in their lives that have gone above and beyond their duty to help them. Secondly, highlight the media incidents like the pilot Chelsey Sullenberger and his crew and the New York ferry boat workers who saved the 155 people in the airplane that landed on the Hudson River.

Patriotic citizens need to inform other citizens and foreigners that our prosperity is not based on luck or oppressive power, but on our morals, rule of law and dedication to the work ethic. We should describe in detail to them the hectic lifestyle we have to live, in order to maintain our standard of living and position in the world. Up to this point, the average American has earned what he has.

America is a magnet to many people around the world. Foreigners worldwide pour into America to visit and return home with many goods. They see wide boulevards, large modern homes, orderly neighborhoods, a vast array of consumer products and constant opportunities to shop, which are impressive to them. Immigrants prove, regardless of the distorted media, that the USA is still highly admired. It is the destination to which most people would like to migrate.

Our nation, like other countries, has many areas in need of improvement, although we are, for the most part, a generous and decent people. We possess more economic and individual freedom than any other country on Earth. There are many more reasons to be proud of rather than to be ashamed of our country.

A triumph of America is dramatically witnessed every four years. In a lawful electoral process, the power of our federal government is handed over to the electoral winner. This is done in a peaceful manner, even though a small percentage is usually the determining factor between the winning and losing candidate.

There is no other major nation on the face of the Earth that has had a more stable and uninterrupted federal republic form of government. Regardless of the intensity of the presidential campaign, majority rule has prevailed. There has been no armed resistance to reverse the election results in the United States. This peaceful transition, by itself, is a tribute to American exceptionalism.

The peace, prosperity, vast national resources and especially our constitutional republic gives every American reason to count his blessings. Instead of despising America for its imperfections, we should unite in our appreciation for what America has done to make each citizen's life full of opportunity.

Americans need to proudly stand up and speak to help misinformed anti-American citizens and foreigners comprehend the virtues of living in the freest nation on Earth.

Dr. Maglio is the author of Invasion Within and Essential Parenting. He is a psychotherapist and the owner/director of Wider Horizons School. Visit: www.drmaglio.com.

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