Bravado Of A Different Tone

http://themoderatevoice.com/137606/americas-young-people-turn-against-patriotic-bravado-gazeta-russia/


I disagree with the idea that America's youth are carry less bravado.  I understand that I might be taking a slightly different definition of bravado and what the blogger is trying,but for the sake of argument I will.  Today's youth in America are patriotic, and proud just in a different tone.  While previous generation have bragged about America, and gone out to show it either in war or business. those options are less taken today.  If you want to see patriotic actions today you must look at the local level, to those kids who are participating in things like the Occupy Movement, or serious mission trips.  There are your examples of American patriotism spreading.

Let's look at the Occupy Movement first.  Yes, a good bit of the Occupy swell was sprung from the upstarts in the Arab countries, but Occupy was the bounce back to the Arab spring.  Like radar or sonar, we answered the Arab Spring with out our American version, that lacked the serious military aspects.  The participant of any American Occupy encampment will tell you it is their right as an American to be out there picketing.  To me, that is American vibrato.  In fact, in what I have read about the movement there was an almost snobbish attitude about why more people were not involved.  Is that not the very definition of bravado? "I'm right, you're wrong! Why can't you see I'm right and your wrong?" 
The Occupy Movement was very visible to the rest of the world, and shown that attitude to the point that OWS rallies sprang up all over the world.  It might not be capitalism, or bullets that are being flashed by the Occupy Camps, but it is pretty easy to see that their patriotism was in full force for all the world.  Might I add, they wanted to the whole world to see that we in America were attuned to what was going on and did not want to be left behind.  Yet another example of what I understand to be bravado.

The second group of kids that we can look at are very much unlike the Occupy Wall Streeter, but no less bold in how they think.  If you ask any OWS member why they were in the streets, the First Amendment right to assembly is going to be their first answer.  If you ask any student out on a mission field, their answer may well quote the First Amendment right to freedom of religion.  Now let me make a distinction, there are missionaries and there are kid who go on mission trips.  The hard corp kids are going to be the group that you get this answer from,though the mission trip kids will give a more warm-fizzy answer.  Are they not displaying their patriotism by going out and preaching the word of God to others? Ask them that question and you are going to get a religiously laced patriotic speech that would make Reagan and Pat Robertson go nuts. This will be more pronounced if you poll many members of a particular university located in a particular central Virginia town that starts with L and ends in ynchburg.  They see their freedom as something the rest of the world lack, and because we in America have it, we have to share it with the rest of the world.  I must too here admit that I am a serious mission tripper, and have on occasion seen the world this way.  I'd like to think now, that when I go on trips today, it's for the sake of helping other people in need. 

My point is this.  In years past people have had bravado because we have beat other countries at ward, or in the world market, or sports, or whatever.  Now we need to tune into how our young people are showing off their patriotism in different ways.  Not to sound all hippieish, but we are very well beating the country in peace.  Is that not what we want? To show that Democracy is peaceful, and while we might fight amongst ourselves, we do so as a model for our to fight amongst your neighbors.  Oh my, that dangers on American exceptionalism right there. Hmm

Let me know what you think! Have I gone off my rocker or am I missing the point all together?  Leave a comment here or on my Facebook page.  I'd love to talk
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