Post by Whiterook on Jul 5, 2022 10:02:30 GMT -5
Just an Opinion
Here in the United States, we just celebrated one of my favorite observance holidays — The 4th of July! The Declaration of Independence was 1776 which makes the United States 246 years old in 2022. Several years ago, it hit me that our nation is but a babe on the world stage in terms of length of history, but light years ahead of others in technology and influence. I’ve always been extremely proud of our county, our values, our ideals, our compassion, our strength, and so much more; despite even our many failings as a nation in some respects, same as all other countries, we have core values that run deep, though not always shown.
I noticed something interesting yesterday as I trolled through the feeds on Facebook, that horrible piece of social media that is the necessary evil we face in order to stay current within many of our hobbies: I noticed the most patriotic statements I’d seen were from wargamers and historical model builders. It didn’t surprise me really… these hobbyists love history! As a member of both hobbies, I can state quite firmly that we quite literally play in history! We revere it. We honor it. What was interesting was, people outside these niches relished the vacation, the food, the gatherings and festivities’ party atmosphere… yet, they didn’t in the same breath, talk of pride in our nation. In fact, the haters gotta hate mentality was clearly on display, trashing our values and trying to replace them with, well, God knows what
Well. I say, thank goodness for games and modelers! It’s still possible to be Patriotic in our respective counties and be proud of it, as well as knowledgeable about it all.
This is also why I’m honored to have known all the members of this and previous versions of the forum. From all over the world, we hold true to the values that our country is our base… and even when it does stupid shit, we remain steadfast in its greater support.
Here in the United States, we just celebrated one of my favorite observance holidays — The 4th of July! The Declaration of Independence was 1776 which makes the United States 246 years old in 2022. Several years ago, it hit me that our nation is but a babe on the world stage in terms of length of history, but light years ahead of others in technology and influence. I’ve always been extremely proud of our county, our values, our ideals, our compassion, our strength, and so much more; despite even our many failings as a nation in some respects, same as all other countries, we have core values that run deep, though not always shown.
I noticed something interesting yesterday as I trolled through the feeds on Facebook, that horrible piece of social media that is the necessary evil we face in order to stay current within many of our hobbies: I noticed the most patriotic statements I’d seen were from wargamers and historical model builders. It didn’t surprise me really… these hobbyists love history! As a member of both hobbies, I can state quite firmly that we quite literally play in history! We revere it. We honor it. What was interesting was, people outside these niches relished the vacation, the food, the gatherings and festivities’ party atmosphere… yet, they didn’t in the same breath, talk of pride in our nation. In fact, the haters gotta hate mentality was clearly on display, trashing our values and trying to replace them with, well, God knows what
Well. I say, thank goodness for games and modelers! It’s still possible to be Patriotic in our respective counties and be proud of it, as well as knowledgeable about it all.
This is also why I’m honored to have known all the members of this and previous versions of the forum. From all over the world, we hold true to the values that our country is our base… and even when it does stupid shit, we remain steadfast in its greater support.