Guest Post by Jeff Thomas
Recently, after reading an essay of mine, a reader angrily questioned my loyalty to the USA. My immediate reaction was that I’m not a US citizen. I therefore tend to observe the US dispassionately, just as I’d observe any of the nearly 200 “foreign” countries in the world.
But, as I’m British, what if he’d questioned my loyalty to the UK? Would he have a valid point? Well, at the very least, he’d certainly have a question worthy of an answer.
I, of course, have a legal right to live and work in the UK, and yet I choose not to. It’s simply not my idea of a great country in which to reside. As much as I regard the traditional English village to be an ideal environment in which to live, I reside elsewhere. The reason is that I place a very high value on personal freedom, a nonintrusive government, and a populace that doesn’t feel that it’s entitled to largesse that’s been forcibly taken from another segment of the population.
But that doesn’t exactly address the question of “loyalty,” does it? Well, there, I must confess, I tend to answer the question with another question. Whenever someone speaks to me of his loyalty to his country, I’m inclined to ask him to define “country.”
In most jurisdictions, the term “country” seems to be bandied about more by governments and the military than by the average citizen. Whenever a government wants blind compliance from its people, political leaders speak of “loyalty.” Whenever a military seeks to send people off to possibly be killed in battle, again, “loyalty” is the reason given.
But if the question is asked, “Loyalty to what?” answers vary. “Loyalty to the flag” is a common one. Another is “Loyalty to this great land of ours.” And, not surprisingly, these answers are common, no matter which country is under discussion. But is one flag superior to another? Is one land better than another (which would suggest that all those who feel their land is better are incorrect)?
Let’s have a closer look at some possible definitions and representations of “country.”
The Flag
One of my earliest memories is of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth. But this is not so much due to the event itself, as it’s because my family’s home was littered with all the flags, pop-up books, biscuit tins, and other memorabilia that commemorated the coronation. The house was tricked out like Christmas in June and I’ve never forgotten it, although I was only five at the time.
So I was taught what the Union Jack represented at an early age. Yet I regard it primarily as a piece of cloth. I’ve lived in numerous countries and they all have their own bit of cloth that they run up the flagpoles. The reader might ask himself, “Am I loyal to this piece of fabric, regardless of whether the leaders of my country represent the principles in which I believe?”
A Particular Portion of Real Estate
A country can, of course, be defined geographically. If we’re born within the boundaries of a country, we’re asked to take great pride in that fact, even though it’s a mere accident of birth and has nothing whatever to do with our own selection.
So, if we feel loyal to a particular piece of ground, is it the ground on which our home sits, or does it encompass the town nearest us, or is it an entire country, most of which we’re unlikely to ever even visit? It would seem natural to value one’s immediate surroundings, but it would make less sense for large numbers of people to collectively value vast areas that have no relevance to their personal lives.
If not geography, are we loyal to a government? When polled, a majority of respondents, in most any country, say that they don’t trust their government and don’t feel that their government exists to serve them, but rather, to serve themselves. Is there any logic, then, in feeling loyalty to a government that is not also loyal to our own principles and objectives?
A Concept of Governance
The UK claims as one of its most important documents the Magna Carta, which, in 1215, attempted to lay out certain inalienable rights of all citizens, not just those who were well-born. In 1776, the US did the UK one better by creating the Constitution, which combined elements of the Magna Carter and the Athenian republic of the fifth century BC. The Constitution’s focus was on the rights of the individual and, in essence, stated that a person should be able to have the freedom to live his life as he pleases, as long as he does not aggress against another person or his property. Yet, almost immediately, this idea was infringed upon by those who wished to replace it with democracy—the idea of which is majority rule. Thomas Jefferson described democracy as “Nothing more than mob rule, where 51% of the people may take away the rights of the other 49%.” Since that time, successive governments in the US have continued to degrade the original concept of a republic until, today, the great majority of individual rights have been lost by Americans. Like never before, Americans are now being shamed by universities, the media, and the government into apologizing if they do not agree with a collectivist eclipse of individual rights.
To be fair, much of the rest of the world has done the very same. After all, it’s the nature of governments to steadily remove freedoms from their people and increase their own power over all. It’s a slow process, often taking generations. If it’s instituted too quickly, the populace rebels, as we observed in Venezuela.
For me, the definition of “country” is an easy one. I don’t value any particular portion of real estate. In all countries, there’s dirt beneath our feet and the dirt in one country is much the same as in another.
Neither do I feel any loyalty to a particular government. If one government is prepared to serve my interests better than another one, it will be more likely to earn my loyalty. I’m certainly not persuaded by any accident of birth.
On the other hand, I have quite a strong loyalty to one concept of governance—that of liberty—minimal government. The Athenians were on the right track but were unable to sustain their idea over the long haul. Similarly, the Magna Carta was an excellent step in the right direction. Better still was the US Constitution. To all of these efforts I feel loyalty. But, as stated above, such a high-minded concept is elusive and, when it occurs, may not last throughout the lifetime of the individual. When it does not, I believe that the individual is absolutely within his rights to cease any feelings of loyalty to a country that has ceased to serve him well. If the freedoms he cherishes cease to exist in a particular geographical location, he should feel no guilt whatever in voting with his feet and seeking another location that comes closer to his ideal.
Should an existing government evolve away from his ideal, there’s no reason that he should feel compelled to feel loyalty to it.
My own “country” is wherever the principles that I live by are respected, and I’m able to live with the greatest degree of freedom possible. I’m loyal to a concept, not a flag, a particular piece of dirt, or a government.
Today, more than ever before, I’m meeting people who fret over the thought that they might be disloyal to their country, should they choose to diversify themselves geographically. But they should feel no guilt. Any government that ceases to deliver on its founding principles deserves to be either changed or abandoned.
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That’s why Doug Casey and his team just released a new complementary report, “The Easiest Way to a Second Passport.” It contains all the details about one of the easiest countries to obtain a second passport from. Click here to download it now.
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Well… that was a long winded way of saying I’m only loyal to myself. The narcissism is strong with this dude.
So is it narcissism and loyalty only to the self to value your own utility? And, once you’ve defined it this way, are not self loyalty and narcissism simply correct?
I’m sorry but I don’t speak self-indulgent word salad bullshit. I have no clue what you’re trying to convey with that circular reasoning comment. Perhaps you could rewrite your sentences with the assumption that another human being who’s separate from yourself is going to read it.
My Country was defeated in 1865, just because We wanted to part company.
Dude, you weren’t alive during the Civil War.
Loyalty to a belief.
That’s kind of the point. None of us were alive in 1776 or 1788. The governing system that we were gifted with, that was a libertarian form of a representative republic, have been slowly and gradually degraded to the point that they no longer exist. Yet because it was done slowly each new generation grew up in a country with less freedom than the previous. Each new generation’s money was debased, and now we live in a bankrupt totalitarian shadow of what was gifted to us by our founders. Our country was killed by the slow boiling, and like frogs in a pan of water were almost totally cooked.
Thanks for letting me know.
Actually, we decided to stop the war to stop the atrocities being perpetrated against our citizenry. Look at the kill ratio – we were winning it in the field, and quite probably could have gone on for quite awhile were it not for the [rothschild sponsored] mercenaries and terrorists. Oh, and lincoln authorising war crimes against civilians.
Inordinate love of oneself is narcissism.
Loyalty to oneself is duty.
One cannot be loyal to any other unless they are loyal to themselves first.
Like truthfulness.
To conflate loyalty to oneself with narcissism is disingenuous, at best.
Their side, your side, I choose my side.
Family and a few close friends, no loyalty to or for anybody or anything else.
That train left the station a long time ago.
About the same time as mine, I’m sure.
Up against my ass !
This sand nigger reminds me of a dog fence fighting with another dog that could kill it easily.
Bark, bark, bark …….oh yeah? Open the gate goat fucker!!!
Another stupid shit sheep taking the bait. What would you do with a brain, if you had one?
The issue is not whether Muslims or Jews are more honorable and humane; it’s ‘who rules in Palestine’.
Frankly it’s none of the US government’s business who the f*ck rules in Palestine. And, as a non-Mjuslim, non-Jew, I really don’t give a damn.
Actually watching the video, it was surprisingly moderate and unaggressive. All he said here is that it’s always bad everywhere where Zionists and Christians use their tribes as excuses to victimize the outgroup, and this should be opposed not just in Palestine, but wherever it happens.
As much as Islam has a clause, as most religions do, about how Islam needs to conquer the planet, this speech isn’t that, and if this is the best sniping of Hamas’ speeches that its enemies can get, then that’s actually an update in favour of Hamas.
cheap shot segue:
” In 1776, the US did the UK one better by creating the Constitution, which combined elements of the Magna Carter and the Athenian republic of the fifth century BC”
WERE You an American? You BEST have ‘Loyalty’ & Respect our Flag!
Why ELSE would Our humble, (AND Duly Elected) Public Servants pass legislation mandating that ALL American Flags be manufactured of 100% AMERICAN products in AMERICAN factories by AMERICAN workers???
Send One annually to Every Tax Payer? Free! shipping label/box w/folding instructions for proper disposal?
Cat got Yore Tongue???
Carta, not Carter.
Typo by the Author. right below: “A Concept of Governance”.
You have/fly a genuine Made in ‘Murica flag?
Yes, but a 48 star one, the other two don’t count. Especially the last one.
.
There still lives within this country a huge amount of people who hate the communist occupation/occupiers and the KM government controllers at the higher levels. They still share the values of their grandparents and those before them.
A world without borders has no cohesion, nothing to make one area unique over another where you have roots and a history of those before you. Unless I missed it, this guy didn’t say where he lives that is his Shangri-La. I would expect this from a WEFer, he lays everything at the feet of government and nothing toward common cohesion of a group of people. Waste of time, IMO.
“huge amount” Nein, nien! Huge number!
The amount of Trump voters in the last election is a indication of a huge amount of loyal Americans, not that Donnie deserved their support. I guess they were desperate or impaired after their shit shots.
It’s complicated, multi level. The damage of the last sixteen to twenty years, interrupted recently by Trump and put in hyperdrive by 0bama’s third term and the global master class have led me to a very low point.
Only a servile jackoff democrat sheepnigger is “loyal” to a shitbox niggerhole country like Merca…… where everything is FAKE and the government is actively trying to kill you and family every way possible.
Zap, you are my kind of people.
Russia is looking for more white population, just sayin’.
The things that made this country great are in decline, the things that make this country suck are stronger everyday: demographics IS destiny. Our betters know this: let worthless, opportunistic, low-trust society people in, and they will make your country just like the shithole they came from. In places like that, the rich and connected run everything, and everyone else is a dirt-grubbing peasant, who is surveilled, oppressed, and ruthlessly exploited. The freedom of everyman, that was the greatest expression of Locke and embodied the best tenets of humanity, is almost completely ruined. It is long past time when the founders would have been shooting.
The things that made this country great are not in decline, they are gone. They no longer exist.
This country was great because its people were willing to stand and to fight for principals, and to fight for their own rights and sovereignty. Those people no longer exist. They were replaced by immigrants who were too cowardly to stand up for themselves in their own countries, and came here looking for a free ride. Today we are a nation of free riders, and not people willing to risk fortune and life to be free and to stand for what is just and true.
Individual freedom. I like individual freedom.
Loyalty, like respect must be earned. There is no country today in the world that deserves loyalty because every government is corrupt to the degree of being truly evil.
What I am loyal to, is the principals which were championed by men like Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and Patrick Henry. Men who believed in the sovereignty of the individual and the need to keep government subservient to the people.
It is government that should be loyal to its people, not the other way around. So far as the US, it must be clear to even the most stupid people, that the US government considers its citizens to be their enemy, and people who must be subjugated and relegated to servants of the State.