As far as your beliefs…well I think with more time and study you would see that the arguments for abortion and gay marriage are actually counter to the actually words in the constitution and other founding documents.

On abortion, it is counter to the fundamental right of all to have life…if you don’t protect innocent life the other rights enshrined in the constitution become moot.

On gay marriage, my problem is that the courts have conflated sexuality with other things like race, ethnicity and what not and created a protected class based upon how people use there procreation equipment. Although I actually agree that marriage shouldn’t even be within the realm of the Federal Gov’t.

The best bet for our nation remains Federalism with a healthy dose of conservatism as well.

Regardless, the problem is more extensive than simple anti-Americanism. Youth have a choice between left and right wing, when neither party really presents a unified American ideal. There a plenty of conservative issues even my most liberal friends are pro-ponents of, such as gun rights or a balanced budget. There are liberal issues my conservative friends are pro-proponents of, such as gay marriage or abortion. The problem is the pidgen holing of American politics. You can’t support an issue without being labeled as a Republican or a Democrat, which is a problem if you don’t like either.

Who represents someone like me who believes in all 10 Amendments in the Bill of Rights, limited government and low taxes, but who is also pro- gay marriage (more specifically against government involvement in marriage all together), pro-choice and an Atheist? Certianly not Democrats, who want to tax me to death, take my gun, and make my personal choices. And certianly not Republicans, many of which who see me as amoral because of my lack of religion or my stances on social issues.

The point is, I know anecdotally a lot of people my age who buy into the anti-American rhetoric because of a lack of real identification with government. Nothing to do with Clinton or Ted Kennedy. I would suspect the popularity of Obama amongst my peers has more to do with his lack of clear articulation on many major issues rather than support for his few stated positions.

Its easier to identify with a figure who doesn’t stand for anything because its hard to get offended by nothing.

I don’t think we needed war bonds or rubber donations (obviously), but you are correct that the nation basically took a position of non-involvement.

I would blame on those people who fed the discontent with lies about torture and wars being lost. I would lay blame on years of anti-Americanisms spouted by the likes of the Kerry’s and Kennedy’s and Clinton’s and Obama’s. They told us for years that America was the problem…so the effect is a generation of citizens who don’t believe in the moral superiority of our nation.

Very sad indeed.

My point is that this should have galvanised us, but it has done the opposite. Government in general, both Republicans and Democratics, have not moblized the youth outside of the military. This has been a war without sacrifice, not in the military sense, but in the civilian one.

Where are the war bonds, the rubber donations, the collective spirit? When government asks nothing of its people it breeds apathy. All levels of government, Republican and Democract, told us to live our lives, we will protect you. Don’t mind the man behind the curtain.

Perhaps this doesn’t have as much an effect on the adult population, but when this type of father knows best, support the troops (but don’t volunteer) and swipe your credit card mentality has been the norm sense your maturation as an adolescent, it changes the national paradigm when it comes to service to your fellow citizen.

In short, we are the over protected children who are given too much allowance money and not asked to do any chores.

The call to service for your generation should have been implicit… Blaming “W” for the lack of service is a cop-out. Where was your sense of individual responsibility for your nation? ( I mean this in the broad sense…not specifically you)

I was starting my second week in junior high when I was pulled out of class. My dad might be in trouble they said, and something has happened in the city. I had to wait for my mother to show up to find out. I wasn’t the only kid in the office. Most of my friends were waiting there too.

My dad worked in Grennich village as a executive chef, and he watched the towers fall. He spent the rest of the day walking over a hundred blocks to make it off the island and to my aunts house in Westchester. I remember that night vividly, as it was the first time I saw my dad cry. I had dinner waiting for him, but he didn’t eat. We have since moved to Texas, and I left home for college in Louisiana.

As I grew up, my entire life has been defined by the acts of that day, and the constant war on terror. I have no memories of adult life without the patriot act, or increased government security. Terror colour codes and no gels on planes.

It is easy for the adults today to point to my generation and say you don’t care. But its not that. The government has been a bigger force in my life that any other. My generation is one who has yet to leave the nest, smothered by the increases of government power and abuse.

My peers have come to see government as something more than the will of the people. It is no longer a product of our service, but the dark knight of our Saturday morning cartoons. And when government becomes something no longer grounded in reality, when the White House is seen as “their” house and not “ours”, you forget what service really is.

This is a war without sacrifice. Government will fight the war, government will keep you safe, make no personal sacrifice, carry on your lives. That is what my president told me after that day, and that is how my generation has lived.

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