There are plenty of people, that are proud to be American, and have a strong tendency to wear such pride on their sleeve. In fact, based upon all the continuous immigration to America, both licit and illicit, along with the salient fact, that there are very few people, each year, that voluntarily give up their American citizenship, it is thereby fair to say, that being an American citizen gives every appearance of being something, that those that are its citizens of, or those that want to be citizens of, highly value. All of that is to the good; the problem though comes from the inconvenient fact, that many a person wants their liberty, their freedom, and their free choice, in which they can often cite some part of the Constitution, or the Declaration of Independence, in regards to their “rights;” but when it comes down to each one of these people, willingly doing their part in regards to their civic duty in order to uphold the very values that they believe are so dear to them, we often get some sort of disappointing disconnect, from a significant subsection of our citizens.
In sum, as some have said, “freedom is not free,” which is absolutely true. Further to the point, the institutions and values that we most highly cherish, need our active participation in them, in order for this to well continue for our joint societal benefit. In other words, those that are unwilling to carry their fair load in regards to their responsibility to that government, of, for, and by the people, aren’t doing their good part to continue to make this a country worth fighting or dying for. In effect, citizens of America, have what appears to be the lightest of burdens when it comes to being compelled to demonstrate their civic virtues, for there is not at the present time, compulsory conscription for military service or even for community service. That is to say, if you are born in the USA, your country might well request your service, but it cannot compel that service from you -- though this nation does extract monies from its citizens, through its various taxation policies.
So too, a major problem within America, is the disappointing lack of cohesion exhibited far too often by one citizen to another, in which, neither side wishes to give ground or to even necessarily listen to the other; thereby discounting and suppressing commonality, in order to uphold the supposed superiority of the individual, above all. What those people are lacking, is the understanding that each of us has also a corresponding obligation to help make this society a better place for our active participation in it. In other words, those that are unable or unwilling to put the public good as well as civic virtue, above their selfish desires, at least, some of the time, aren’t then doing a darn thing to help further the cause of this nation, because they have failed to comprehend that they have a responsibility to do something of worth for this nation, or they thus have, in effect, betrayed its core values.