Allow me to have your attention for a minute. There are three kinds of people in the world: Wolves, Sheep, and Sheepdogs. The Wolves prey on the sheep, and the sheep allow themselves to be slaughtered. It is the Sheepdogs charged with defending the herd. Even as we speak, there are wolves trying to attack our sheep, the clueless masses who know nothing other than comfort and happiness. It is the duty of the Sheepdog to defend what is right, to defend honor and integrity and nothing less.

There are those who may wish to make it easier for the wolves, to make the herd defenseless and weak, these people do what they do in the interest of gaining power. They want nothing more than to have total control over the masses. In their own delusions they consume themselves, throw themselves off the cliff into the fire. It is because of people like this, that our country is in never-ending debate and political controversy. Because people can’t understand the meaning of honor, what it means to have a moral code.

Now I’ve never been one for debate, but I do believe in standing up for what I believe is right, and so far no one else has done it. You see, our country is in disrest right now, and it is because our leaders, the people we trust with the future of our nation, are politically corrupt and dishonorable. Recent events have shown, that they will stop at nothing to gain control, even for a small amount of time. They have no regard for the lives of other people, going so far as to attempt to ruin the lives of an innocent man and his family. It is unacceptable what we see today in the people who lead us.

This Essay is not intended to be politically driven, but there is a time and a place when someone needs to speak out, not with volume, but with power. It is unacceptable that our country has come to a point where it is the social norm to intend to appease our adversaries, instead of defeat them. President Ronald Reagan once said

“Admittedly there is a risk in any course we follow other than this, but every lesson in history tells us that the greater risk lies in appeasement, and this is the specter our well-meaning liberal friends refuse to face that their policy of accommodation is appeasement, and it gives no choice between peace and war, only between fight or surrender” (A Time for Choosing, 27 October 1964).

It is important that we remember why we became a global superpower in the first place, because we stood up for the little guy, we were the sheepdog to the sheep. But now, we have been reduced to a sniffling mess that doesn’t understand why our enemies won’t just “talk it out.”

The current generation does not understand that there are groups of people in the world who have sworn to leave the United States, our values of freedom and democracy, in ruins at the feet of our children. There are times when it is appropriate to use diplomacy, but there are also times when it is necessary to use force. This was shown to us on the morning of December 7th, 1941. “A day which will live in infamy” were the words that our president, Franklin D. Roosevelt, used. On this early december morning, the United States of America was attacked by a foreign power with the sole intent of destroying our way of life.

The reason that this attack occurred was because America entered World War II as a pacifist nation. We did not want anything to do with the war in Europe. Despite this, some of the greatest military minds that we had, continued to warn our administration that sooner or later we were going to be attacked. And we eventually were, however after this attack, there stronger unity and patriotism in America than there ever had been before.

On the morning of September 11th, 2001, America was attacked again. This time by a non-state organization known as Al-Qaeda. Over three thousand Americans were killed, including law enforcement, firefighters, emergency medical technicians, and normal people off the street who were doing all that they could to help with the devastation. And much like the attack on Pearl Harbor, the weeks and months following showed greater patriotism and unity that America had seen in a long time.

But there is one key similarity between these two attacks. The reason they were caused, was because America was weak. We did not make an effort to defend ourselves, even when we were warned of the consequences. And now we are beginning to soften more, as the generation that were only toddlers during 9/11 begin to grow a voice for politics. History repeats, and I pray to god that this does not.

There is a saying that goes like this, “Hard times create hard men, and hard men create soft times, and soft times create soft men, and soft men create hard times.” In only twenty three words, I can tell you exactly what will happen with the coming generations. We as a country have grown soft, and that only leaves one direction to go: up.

You have a duty to your country America, don’t fail yourself again; be a sheepdog, not a sheep, not a wolf.