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Saturday, September 20, 2014

Why do Americans hate America?

After some hand-wringing over British citizens who have chosen to fight with ISIS, Prime Minister David Cameron said he thinks one reason for the defection is that too many of the defectors have forgotten what it means to be British. As a means of fighting the radicalization of young people, he wants all of Britain’s schools to again teach “British values.”

It is a diagnosis Americans would do well to consider because an unknown number of Americans (FBI Director James Comey says he doesn’t have a precise number because they are “hard to track”) have abandoned their country to fight with jihadists.

In order to teach values, whether British or American, we must first agree on what they are. Since the turbulent ’60s, some Americans have chosen to ignore, even oppose, values taught to their forebears. These tenets begin with personal responsibility and accountability, hard work, capitalism, self-reliance, faith in God and patriotism.

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