I was wondering what to post to celebrate the Fourth of July and then my son sent me what I consider the most patriotic message I’ve seen in ages. (As a father, to see his son become a responsible adult not afraid to get out of his comfort zone and challenge norms at the expense of comfort, makes it a late Father’s Day gift as well.) Sure, Andy swallowed their propaganda, but doesn’t propaganda shape the way we see our world too? Andy and his sister Jackie are midway through 30 days of SE Asian fun (posting daily in our Travelers Café).
Until today, I’ve never thought of Andy as very political. Andy shares a literally life-changing experience with this inspirational post. And he shares it out of love and appreciation for our country on the day we celebrate our freedom. It’s young people who get out and understand our world that will shape the character of our nation in the future. Check this out starting with his comment and then the video clip. (Then, feel free to share any travel/parenting insights or comments you might have.)
Andy writes:
War Remnants Museum in Ho Chi Minh City
As we celebrate the birth of our great nation today, my experience a few days ago in Vietnam really made me appreciate the responsibility we all have as Americans to stay involved and engaged in the serious issues that we face as a nation today. It’s so important to remember the lessons learned from our past conflicts, and I think it’s our patriotic duty for all of us to actively question our government. So much money and so many under-the-surface interests are flexing their lobbying muscles for contracts in DC that ignore human costs on the other side of the world. The only tool we have to protect our society from these forces is our beautiful (and more fragile than we might realize) democracy. Stay engaged and vote with this little clip in mind. Happy Fourth of July!
