'Secretary Rubio’s message to history ' by Vincent

 

Nationalism and civic pride are not dirty words when they mean love of country, loyalty to fellow citizens, and a willingness to accept responsibility for the future of one’s nation. Properly understood, they are covenants made to one another; an unbreakable bond and a promise made from one generation to the next. It’s a promise that those that came before us did not labor and sacrifice in vain. It is a promise that those alive today will preserve what is worthy, repair what is broken, and hand something stronger to those that come after. 

 

At the foot of the Acropolis, where marble columns rise against the endless blue of the Athenian sky, Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s remarks will be remembered as a solemn tribute to the enduring spirit of civilization; and to the future nations that inherit its responsibility. “To know them, is to know ourselves,” he stated, referring to ancient Greek society. He reminded onlookers that freedom is never given, it is built, defended, and passed from one generation to the next; just like the stones of the Acropolis shaped by human hands over two thousand years ago.

 

Its columns stand with the authority of ages, declaring that human beings, when united by courage and purpose, can create something greater than themselves. The sacred height of the Acropolis is much more than an ancient monument; it’s a symbol of aspiration. From these same hills came forth ideas that shaped western civilization and western culture as we know it. However, these same stones of Athens bear witness to a truth that remains urgent today. Liberty and freedom require vigilance, sacrifice, and those with the will to defend it.  

 

Ancient Greece understood that citizenship demanded more than private comfort. It required participation, courage, discipline, service, and above all, loyalty. A people’s republic cannot be sustained by spectators and outsiders. It depends on its citizens to understand that liberty is not simply the right to do as one pleases; liberty is the power to uncomfortably govern ourselves. And this is the challenge that Europe faces today. Europe must find its way back to the principles that built republics of the people; the rule of law, accountable government, secure borders, free speech, the importance of family, and the ultimate belief that citizens have both rights and duties. These are the conditions of a free society.

 

A government that cannot defend its people cannot preserve their liberty. A nation that no longer knows who it is cannot confidently know here it’s going. The Secretary reminded listeners that a society that teaches its children to be ashamed of their inheritance, or embarrassed by their successes, will eventually lose the ability to defend it. History has been a great teacher, and apathy a consequential lesson.       

 

This does not mean closing ourselves to the world. Ancient Greece reminds us that civilizations grow over time. Cooperations among nations is strongest when nations remain sovereign nations, confident in their identity, secure in their sovereignty, and faithful to their people. We must renew that belief. Our forefathers did not inherit a finished product. They inherited danger, uncertainty, and division. Yet, they built upward, they sacrificed, they endured, and most importantly, they understood that freedom is never permanently secured by good intentions alone.

 

The alliance between Europe and the United States is grounded in a shared civilization and our cultural values. We have defended one another because we believed in something together. We believe that human beings are endowed with dignity, and that government exists to serve the people; and that free nations have the right and duty to determine their own future.

 

To defend civilization does not always mean taking up arms, though there are moments when courage requires exactly that. It also means defending truth against propaganda, reason against hysteria, law against corruption, and national self-governance against those who would replace the voice of citizens with the dictates of distant elites or unaccountable bureaucratic institutions.

 

It means raising children who know that their country is more than an administrative territory. It means teaching them the names of those who built their communities, defended their liberties, and gave their lives for a future they would never see. It means having the confidence to say that some things are worth preserving simply because they are ours. The age in which we live demands renewed confidence in these simplistic ideals.

 

Principles become empty words if people no longer possess the will to defend them. We must remember that liberty is precious because it is difficult. We must remember that peace can be our strongest ally, only when supported by strength, wisdom, and moral clarity. Our shared alliances are commitments among peoples who recognize that their security and prosperity are bound together and forged from historical purpose. 

 

Liberty endures, not because history is gentle, but because humanity thrives to return to the ideals it represents. The future will judge us not by the comfort we enjoyed, but by the principles we preserved. Presently, liberty and freedom face relentless pressure from tyranny. Those who oppose liberty hope we will grow tired of defending it; that we will forget the sacrifices made by our ancestors, doubt the principles that sustained them, and retreat from our shared responsibilities.     

 

For the United States, this means renewing the promise of its founding. It means protecting the rule of law, honoring those that served, strengthening families and communities, and refusing to accept cynicism as a substitute for citizenship. It means understanding that patriotism is not hatred of another nation, nor blind praise of one’s own. Patriotism is simply love joined to duty. It is the determination to make one’s country worthy of the sacrifices made in its name.

 

Secretary Rubio’s moment at the Acropolis was a dutiful memo to present and future generations of western culture. To love one’s country is not to claim that it is perfect, it is to believe that it is worth improving and defending. To honor one’s heritage is not to deny the failures of its past; it is to understand them honestly, learn from them, and refuse to let them erase the achievements and sacrifices that made freedom possible in the first place. Freedom only survives when people possess the character to defend it, “Choose to act now or lose the choice to act.”     

Editorial comments expressed in this column are the sole opinion of the writer