Where are the patriots of yesteryear?

e conflict of idealogies continues in the middle east and around the world. Leftists see the struggle of the muslims as a class struggle, a people fighting for rights and justice against the oppressor Israel. Right leaning people see the fight as a religious war, the Islamic Jihad, struggle to bring submission to Allah to the world.The evidence I see leads me to believe the answer lies somewhere in the middle, though tending towards the rightist opinion. The elite in the muslim world are seeking the jihad, and using islamic retoric to sway the masses. That the movers and shakers of the "jihad" are poor is hard to believe. How many poor people can afford explosives, timers, detonators, rockets, and the ability to deploy them against the "oppressor"?How can anyone today, with all the evidence that there is, still believe in the leftist agenda? How can anyone believe that the fighting in the middle east is about the haves and have nots? How can anyone continue to support the welfare state?The government dreamed up by Jefferson and his boys has nothing to do with the welfare state that exists in the USA of the 21st century. It is not the business of the government to provide for the people. It is the business of the people to provide for themselves. Who cannot provide for himself, due to sickness for example, should be able to rely on the charity of his neighbors. Would it not be better for the neighbor to provide of his own free will for his neighbor, instead of wasteful, government beauracracies?People need to learn a sense of responsibility that is missing in today's society. One need only look at the numbers of fatherless children, aborted babies, divorces, etc. And not only a responsibility for self, but also for the neighbor, a responsibility that has been stolen by the welfare state. We care little for our neighbor today, after all, big daddy welfare state will watch out for us, why should we?That is not the spirit that founded the great nation of the United States of America. Where are the individualists that explored and settled the continent? Where are the brave souls that fought for freedom in the wars America found herself in, from the revolution up until WWII. What would have happened in Vietnam if Americans had fought there with the same strength and determination with which their fathers had fought in Europe and on the islands of the Pacific? What would happen if we were to fight Terrorist Islam with the same will and determination, with the same all out, no holds barred, never say die, it ain't over until I win attitude that defeated the Nazis?It seems that people today have lost the will to fight for their beliefs. They'll march alright with signs denouncing violence and the killing of baby seals, but when comes down to brass tacks, appeasement is the only route they know.