I hope the folks in the US had a good Memorial Day.
Personally, I have never served in the military nor has my wife, or any of our 3 sons or 2 daughters. I am a Dutch-American -- the oldest child and oldest grandchild on both sides of the family. As I was born in the US to Dutch parents, I have both a Dutch passport and a US passport. As for core values, while there are Dutch traditions that I greatly appreciate, in terms of national identity, my values are decidedly American.
This short Ronald Reagan speech is a reminder of what it recently meant to be a patriotic American.
However, in the bigger picture, I don't actually believe these are
American values
per se. I think they are
sovereign rights.
Although there are rumors of wars currently, I believe nobody should feel compelled to go to war to kill someone else's father or mother. I hope and pray that war can be avoided and that cooler heads prevail.
In the meantime, I believe our job as Netizens of the
World, is to promote communication, cross-cultural understanding, empathy, prosperity and philanthropy. I think we can do all of this better.
As for the folks who want to use this fascinating NamePros thread to engage in intellectual jousting and one-upmanship, I think it is a poor use of their obvious intellect.
At the end of the day, I believe the real battle is not going to be in threads like this one. The real battle is enabling all of humanity the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.