Hashtags such as #LandOfTheFree, #ProudToBeAnAmerican, and #HappyVeteransDay were swirling around the internet yesterday. Everytime I checked Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter someone seemed to be thanking our troops for all that they've done to protect our freedom as American citizens. Having grown up in a home where my parents strongly enforced respecting our troops-my mother forced my brothers and I to go up to every man or woman we saw in uniform and thank them for their service- I love seeing people show possitivity to our troops.
But I started thinking, why does it take a national holiday for people to thank our troops for the freedoms they're preserving and a job they're doing year round? And why does it seem like the rest of the year social media is filled with people giving their (generally uneducated) opinions about our government and its "infringements" on our freedoms? The most ironic part is that the people whos profiles are generally filled with political rants (lets face it, we all have those people on our timelines) are the same people who are first to create a post giving thanks to our men and women in service.
So why do the endless selfies with American flags and multiple paragraph long Facebook status' appear every year on this national holiday? Simple; we, as humans, crave the attention of others and let our followers endless posts make us feel almost guilted into posting something ourselves.
If we're going to post something thanking all of our veterans on the internet, we should be willing to thank them, in real life, 365 days a year, instead of complaining about everything our government does wrong. America, WAKE UP. Put yourself in another countries shoes, and be thankful for what we have, because most don't live with the luxuries we take for granted; luxuries given to us because of our veterans and troops. So lets start thanking them everyday, not once a year.
But I started thinking, why does it take a national holiday for people to thank our troops for the freedoms they're preserving and a job they're doing year round? And why does it seem like the rest of the year social media is filled with people giving their (generally uneducated) opinions about our government and its "infringements" on our freedoms? The most ironic part is that the people whos profiles are generally filled with political rants (lets face it, we all have those people on our timelines) are the same people who are first to create a post giving thanks to our men and women in service.
So why do the endless selfies with American flags and multiple paragraph long Facebook status' appear every year on this national holiday? Simple; we, as humans, crave the attention of others and let our followers endless posts make us feel almost guilted into posting something ourselves.
If we're going to post something thanking all of our veterans on the internet, we should be willing to thank them, in real life, 365 days a year, instead of complaining about everything our government does wrong. America, WAKE UP. Put yourself in another countries shoes, and be thankful for what we have, because most don't live with the luxuries we take for granted; luxuries given to us because of our veterans and troops. So lets start thanking them everyday, not once a year.