I have many liberal friends and family who have loved and supported me through my adult life, Even though my politics and lifestyle are in direct contrast to their own beliefs. I really appreciate the dialogue we are able to maintain because it helps give me perspective and insight on the thoughts and beliefs that are held by many who live in my society. These civilized ideals are allowed to exist due to the cultural and intellectual freedoms that we enjoy in America. The assumption is often made that because of my military service and staunch patriotism that I have somehow “drank the kool-aid”. But make no mistake, my allegiance is not allocated to the US government. In fact, in all my years of service I never fought one day for the US Government. I fought for my brothers in arms, the Constitution, and the citizens of the United States.

The education I received from serving my country at war was not intellectual but rather primal. I was stripped of all material goods, personal identity and learned that the survival of the group super-cedes that of my own. I was placed in austere environments with only the bare essentials and any living condition was acceptable as long as the condition I was in was living. The positive take away from living in a world of constant survival is it gave me an understanding of nature and that beauty can be found in the simplest things. I learned how to love without awkwardness or fear and I cherish the people and ideals that matter most to my physical and mental health.

That love inspired tribalism is a very dangerous thing whether it’s wielded by “good or evil”. That seemingly conservative ultra-masculine survival mentality needed to be tempered by liberalism and femininity. Without that softer side of our nature we could never develop an appreciation for art, literature and diplomacy; which are the essentials for a civilized society.

The problem we face in American society today is that we are too far removed from the nature of survival. We spend most of our day looking to our phones for entertainment rather than looking for food. Religion is used as a talking point for interesting conversation at dinner as opposed to a personal relationship to something greater than yourself. And War is passively followed like a baseball team that you only check the paper to see the box scores. These are all the luxuries of living in a civilized liberal society.

If we faced boredom, hunger, and a stranger banging at our door in the night our view of the world would be very different. The evil we face is very much aware of the realities of nature and my liberal friends and family would like to think that this evil can be reasoned with. But how can you have a dialogue with a “civilization” that has enslaved their women and ruthlessly destroys opposing art/architecture, literature and faith?

In nature we look for balance but what we really find is chaos. So rather than ignore the natural world that exists outside our civilization, We should remember what it takes to survive in it. Sometimes survival means doing savage things.