It’s 2025, and somehow, for a nation built on freedom of thought and speech, we’ve become disturbingly bad at both.

People aren’t thinking critically anymore, they’re just repeating.
Not researching, just reposting.
Not listening, just choosing a side and digging in deeper.

And I don’t mean just one side of the political spectrum.
This is happening on the left and the right.

We’ve replaced open conversation with echo chambers.
We’ve replaced curiosity with tribalism.
And we’ve convinced ourselves that “freedom” means freedom for my side only.

That’s not progress.
That’s not patriotism.
That’s a problem.

Free Speech Isn’t the Enemy

Disagreement isn’t the same as disrespect.
We shouldn’t treat opposing views like attacks.
We are often too quick to cancel people instead of actually conversing with them.
We create this absurd social pressure to only speak if you say what’s approved by your side.

But here’s the catch:

Free speech is not just a constitutional right. It’s a national responsibility.
It’s the backbone of real democracy, even when what’s being said makes you uncomfortable.
Maybe especially then.

I’ve had friends who died defending that right.
My parents served this country to protect those freedoms — for everyone, not just those they agreed with.
That’s what patriotism actually is: defending people’s ability to speak, not silencing them.

When We Only Listen to “Our Guy,” We All Lose

We’ve become loyal to parties and personalities, not principles.
We’ve stopped asking: What’s right? What’s logical? What’s fair?
And instead we ask: Did my party say this? Did my favorite influencer agree?

If the answer is yes, we believe it.
If it’s no, we attack it, without reading, without questioning, without thinking.

That’s not intelligence. That’s groupthink.

And it’s not just disappointing, it’s dangerous.
When we stop thinking for ourselves, we open the door for manipulation, corruption, extremism, and stagnation.

This Is Bigger Than Red or Blue

This post isn’t about one politician. It’s not about one party.
It’s about the fact that our country is so divided right now, it’s sick. Truth is, we’re all contributing to it every time we choose sides instead of solutions.

Look around:

• People don’t trust each other anymore.
• We assume the worst about anyone who thinks differently.
• We’re more invested in proving the other side wrong than actually making things better.

That’s not how progress happens. That’s how it falls apart.

What Patriotism Actually Looks Like in 2025

Patriotism isn’t wearing a flag pin or posting a quote from the your favorite founding father.
It’s not parroting your party’s talking points or pretending your side has all the answers.
And it definitely isn’t demanding that everyone vote one way, or be shamed if they don’t.

Patriotism is letting people speak.
It’s having conversations that challenge you.
It’s voting your values, and encouraging others to vote theirs, even if it’s not the same.
It’s asking better questions, and expecting better answers.
It’s defending someone’s right to disagree with you, even while you push back.

We Need to Think Bigger Again

This country was built on debate, dissent, and the free exchange of ideas.
Now we treat those things like threats.

But the real threat?
Is what happens when we stop thinking for ourselves.
When we shut down voices that make us uncomfortable.
When we choose loyalty over logic.

We need to get back to thinking critically. Listening intentionally. Speaking freely. Voting thoughtfully.
That’s not radical, it’s the bare minimum of a functioning democracy.

We don’t have to agree.
But we do have to stop pretending that one side has all the answers.

This country belongs to all of us.
Let’s act like it.