Patriotism is understanding liberty can never be taken for granted. It is constantly watching those whom you have asked to manage your society to guarantee they never have an opportunity to steal your wealth or remove your freedoms, knowing if you do not watch, human nature and history guarantee they will do both.

Patriotism is knowing your country's history, how the present evolved from the past. It's knowing your Constitution was created exclusively by wealthy and influential Americans, because poor, common citizens weren't invited to the meeting in Philadelphia. Actually, few even knew it was being held. It's knowing most of our "Founding Fathers" preferred rule by a king or an aristocracy, because they feared democracy would reduce their wealth and eliminate their lifestyles. It's knowing these men discussed and deliberately refused to give common Americans the power to advise elected representatives how to vote. It's knowing the first 150 years of the republic's history is a record of a one-sided war waged by wealthy Americans against common, working Americans for the purpose of keeping them poor and ignorant.

Patriotism means becoming political, for contrary to the beliefs of millions of Americans, of which you may be one, politics does have much to do with the quality of your life. It influences how much—or how little—your employer pays you, and how much politicians can take from you with taxes. It influences how much legal leeway a manufacturer has in selling you inferior merchandise, or how much a retailer can steal from you with overpriced wares. It influences the laws requiring you, or your children, to fight in wars few believe necessary and many believe wrong.

It's knowing these are the reasons some common Americans today, more than two hundred years after the creation of our Constitution, still fight for equality and justice, and that it is the American System, and not merely the people currently holding political power that causes the inequities commoners suffer. It's knowing that it is the American System, itself, which needs to be changed and not merely political parties or government officials. Patriotism is knowing that you are prepared to fight the battle to change the System to a fairer and more honest one.