“The time is now near at hand which must probably determine whether Americans are to be freemen or slaves; whether they are to have any property they can call their own; whether their houses and farms are to be pillaged and destroyed, and themselves consigned to a state of wretchedness from which no human efforts will deliver them. The fate of unborn millions will now depend, under God, on the courage and conduct of this army. Our cruel and unrelenting enemy leaves us only the choice of brave resistance, or the most abject submission. We have, therefore, to resolve to conquer or die.” – General George Washington, Address to the Continental Army before the Battle of Long Island, August 27, 1776.

Conquer or die.  Those were the choices facing the Continental Army in 1776.  The Congress had declared independence from England; the fire had been ignited, and there was only one way out alive: Fight, and win.  Nothing else would save them.

In the brouhaha over ads and dead druggie actors this week, something became abundantly clear:  We have long forgotten what it means to be American.  Many of you will laugh at that statement, waving it off as an overdramatic proclamation made by an elitist conservative.   If that thought process just went through your head, you’re part of the problem.  You’re one of the people Samuel Adams contemptuously told to lick the hands that feed you.  You are, in a word, worthless to the cause of freedom.

We have become about fluff.  We will spend days debating the morality of some phrase like “rape culture” and yet we care nothing about the fact that the federal government has reduced us to socially engineered slaves under constant surveillance.  We will wax poetic about the evils of feminism, and yet police strip searches and beatings go without a comment.  Someone said mean words about a female conservative.  Someone else made a Facebook status about how much they hate the military.  Some other terrible and awful person said that conservatives are evil people!  These are the things we care about now.  We are “personally pro-life” but we would never think to “force that belief on others.”  In short, we have no guts.  No fortitude.   We have bought into the lies that say we cannot “judge” people, that everyone’s opinion is valid, that everything is okay.  Because of that, we have become watered-down, disgusting caricatures of ourselves, too afraid to rock the boat or be thought of as intolerant.  God forbid.

What in God’s green earth happened to us?  We come from warriors, from men who fought barefoot with frozen muskets.  We come from men who fought for 30 days straight on Iwo Jima, and who swam to shore and clawed and fought their way up the bloodiest beach in history. Men who lost everything in the cause of liberty.   Men who stood on a platform with a hangman’s noose around their neck and said “I regret that I have but one life to give for my country.” This is what we are born of: Men who fought pirates, and emperors, and tyrants—and won.

Two hundred and thirty-seven years later, we are so far gone that we don’t even recognize what we would have once given our lives to stop.  We see our President announce to the country that he no longer cares about Congress or the limits of his executive power; we see an administration so corrupt, so devious, so evil that they will stop at nothing to achieve their goals, and We the People’s reaction?  We post on Facebook about it.  Our government holds a copy of every phone call we make, every place we go, everything we purchase, everything we say in the privacy of our own homes, and what do we do?  We complain on Twitter…from our smartphone.   Is it any wonder the administration doesn’t take us seriously?  Is it really a surprise that Congress ignores us?  Do you not see the absolute futility in our actions?  We tell ourselves we will “vote those jerks out next election,” but we don’t.  The voting system now is so corrupt that it wouldn’t matter if we did.  I will say this now: If you believe that voting is a valid way to get us out of this mess, then you have no idea what is going on.

If we really cared about the state of our Union, we would make this stop. No more humiliation at the hands of our enemies.  No more leaving Americans to die in foreign lands to hide seedy deals and agendas, and no more watching them dragged through the streets, tortured and burned.  No more bowing to foreign powers, while enslaving our own citizens through exorbitant taxes and healthcare schemes. No more re-electing public “servants” that are anything but.  No. More.

If we really cared, we’d be revolting in little ways every day. We’d be growing our own food, refusing to be engineered, refusing to buy into the system that says we must be in debt and dependent. We would learn about our history, learn how to be self-sufficient. We would be proficient with firearms. We would be prepared for anything. We’d be standing thousands deep on the Capitol steps demanding answers, ensuring that the government we currently have understands in no uncertain terms that they no longer have the consent of the governed. Instead, we lay around, thinking that because we passed on a few emails or because we faithfully watch the news or listen to talk radio that we somehow are making a difference. Here’s some truth for you: You’re not accomplishing a thing. The government, however, is. They’ve already managed to convince thousands to give up their guns. Everything is ready for them…it’s just those pesky folks with guns holding it up. Can’t hardly round up the dissidents if they’re armed.

“If ever the Time should come, when vain & aspiring Men shall possess the highest Seats in Government, our Country will stand in Need of its experienced Patriots to prevent its Ruin.” – Samuel Adams, Letter to James Warren, October 24, 1780

We are there today.  This is now.  This is the state of our Union.  We are at a crossroads that may never come again. During the Revolutionary War, it is said that only 3% of the populace took up arms and defended the young nation against the British.  Three out of every one hundred men had the courage and the fortitude to stand up and fight for the freedoms you take for granted.

Today there is another three percent, and those of us who refuse to disarm, who are willing to do what is necessary in the defense of our liberties, are considered an extremist group.  We are anything but; quite frankly, we are the last hope you have, because we are willing to lay down our lives so that you and your family can live free.  So you can post your selfies.  So you can go through the Starbucks drive in and get your mocha latte.  So you can go to your daughter’s dance recital and your office cocktail party.  So you can hug your wife and grill burgers and sit on the internet sharing 1,000 stupid memes on Facebook because you’re too lazy to come up with an original thought yourself.  So you can be a shallow creature who cares more about what’s on TV or what Justin Bieber is doing or what the harpies on Jezebel are saying than about the fact that your government is beyond out of control.

You might argue that this sounds arrogant, like we are elitist jerks expecting thanks and gratitude.  You would be wrong—and again, you’d only serve to illustrate my point.  Being American means being willing to do these things.  It is not somehow brave or noble to be willing to defend liberty with your life.  It is the minimum debt that you owe this nation, to the ones who pledged their lives and sacred Honor for the good of you and your children.  It is the least you can do.

Those of us who pay attention to things other than feminists and celebrities come off as elitist but we aren’t.  We carry a burden of knowledge that you quite simply don’t care enough about to carry.  We see the big picture.  It’s not about Coca-Cola ads; it’s about the way of thinking that has caused us to not even blink at them.  It’s not about being closed-minded or bigoted; it’s about understanding cause-effect relationships and the foundational necessity of morality within liberty.  It’s about not being intellectual cowards—and most conservatives in this country are exactly that.  They’re all fluff and no substance.  Are they the kind of people who would stand in the fire and “acquit themselves like men?”  I think you and I both know the answer to that.

Only a handful of conservatives consider themselves three percenters.  Do you? Are you that committed?  Or is it just a catchphrase that you say among certain company?  Is liberty just another buzzword to you, like tolerance and diversity?  Do you have a clue how precious it is?

“Our own Country’s Honor, all call upon us for a vigorous and manly exertion, and if we now shamefully fail, we shall become infamous to the whole world. Let us therefore rely upon the goodness of the Cause, and the aid of the supreme Being, in whose hands Victory is, to animate and encourage us to great and noble Actions.

The Eyes of all our Countrymen are now upon us, and we shall have their blessings, and praises, if happily we are the instruments of saving them from the Tyranny mediated against them. Let us therefore animate and encourage each other, and shew the whole world, that a Freeman contending for Liberty on his own ground is superior to any slavish mercenary on earth.” – General George Washington, General Orders to his army, July 2, 1776

Read that last sentence again.  A free man contending for Liberty on his own ground is superior to any slavish mercenary on earth.

That sentence, spoken by George Washington on the eve of American independence, is the cornerstone of American exceptionalism. It is the reason why we have stood for over two hundred years as a literal beacon of hope to the world.  We are the last great place for liberty in this world.  If America falls,  freedom will not be seen on this earth again until a people decides to start over and fight and die for it.  The price of freedom is more than eternal vigilance.  It is blood.  Yours, mine.

What makes this nation better than all others is our willingness to come from all corners of the world and become one in freedom.  To fight and die under the same ideals, the same love of country and liberty.  It is not elitist to want to preserve it.  It is not elitist to call for others to join us, to stand and remember where you come from.  Your birthright is not one of slaves.  It is not one of servitude and surveillance.  It is one of pride, of free men contending for Liberty on his own ground.  For the love of all that is good and right in this world, people, wake up.  STAND UP.  We are the last chance this nation has.  Put down your latte and your crossword puzzle.  Find other patriots.  Band together.  Organize.  Be ready.  Stop caring about celebrities and fake news fed to you by an administration that wants nothing but control.  It is time to remember where we come from, and act like what we claim to be. The fight is coming; we will not start it, but we must end it.

“As the Cause of our common Country, calls us both to an active and dangerous Duty, I trust that Divine Providence, which wisely orders the Affairs of Men, will enable us to discharge it with Fidelity and Success.” – George Washington, Letter to Jonathan Trumbull, July 18, 1775

Or perhaps you would rather watch your rights burn down all around you, and subject your children to the slavery others ensured you would never face.  After all, Downton Abbey is on.  Are you not entertained?