Date: 05/30/22
Author: Kent Moors, Ph.D.
Last week, I wrote about the most painful experience I ever confronted during my career in counterintelligence (“Memories,” Classified Intelligence Brief, May 23, 2022). I still find it hard to really discuss. I found it much easier to talk about how we were able to get even, contained in the Spy Tale edition to run in two days.
This leads to a larger question. What was it all for? Why did I go through this?
When I began my service to our country (see “A Giving of Accounts…from Massachusetts to Vietnam,” Classified Intelligence Brief, February 17, 2021) , I knew something about what I was getting into. However, I couldn’t have imagined everything it entailed.
What I’ve referred to as “the Great Game” was played with deadly seriousness. The consequences were life and death, the stakes couldn’t have been higher, and the players were mostly unknown. Yet these were the people on the front-lines of what is essentially a never-ending war, as states constantly jockey for power. In the end, if they fail, a country can collapse.
I saw this with my own eyes in the collapse of the Soviet Union. I like to think I played some part in this. I know I worked with some people who helped bring down the USSR (see “Witnessing History in Gdansk,” Classified Intelligence Brief, December 9, 2020). Yet looking back, while that brings satisfaction, it also makes me feel troubled.
It’s said that Scipio wept when he saw Carthage burn, even though it was the city he had just defeated. He wept because he saw in the flames something which could eventually happen to Rome, his own city. America isn’t magically exempt from the laws of history. It is sustained only so long as there are enough patriots who are willing to put the best of themselves into fighting for her.
This Memorial Day, I don’t just think of the servicemen who gave their lives for their country. I think of the countless others who served, and in some cases died, whose names and deeds will never be known to the general public. I also think of the quiet patriotism of countless Americans who still have faith in the great experiment that is our country. If the country is to endure, that faith must be renewed with each generation. To some extent, those who suffer to keep America free are martyrs to this faith.
Was it worth it? The Declaration of Independence says that the “pursuit of happiness” is one of the self-evident rights that we all have. It may be self-evident, but it’s not something we can take for granted. America needs to be strong for each of us to have the freedom to pursue our dreams. I’ve learned that this is a dangerous world, and that if our country fails, Americans will face the same struggle for survival that the impoverished people of so many less fortunate countries must confront day by day.
When I see people who have achieved financial freedom for themselves and their families, I feel happiness and pride. They worked hard to achieve it, but they were able to do it because of the sacrifices of others. That’s why Memorial Day is so important. It’s a reminder that the foundation of our personal happiness and prosperity is the patriotism of so many others.
Even in the world of investing and trading, it’s not “dog eat dog.” To some extent, we are all in this together, because it takes a lot of blood, sweat, and toil to have even an environment where people can trust that their property is safe, that contracts will be honored, and that they can plan for the future.
Enjoy Memorial Day. Celebrating private happiness isn’t inconsistent with the spirit of the day. It simply must be tempered with the recognition that others helped make this possible. We owe them a debt that can never be repaid. And we have an obligation to make the most of the opportunities their sacrifices have provided for us.
Dr. Kent Moors
This is an installment of Classified Intelligence Brief, your guide to what’s really happening behind the headlines… and how to profit from it. Dr. Kent Moors served the United States for 30 years as one of the most highly decorated intelligence operatives alive today (including THREE Presidential commendations).
After moving through the inner circles of royalty, oligarchs, billionaires, and the uber-rich, he discovered some of the most important secrets regarding finance, geo-politics, and business. As a result, he built one of the most impressive rolodexes in the world. His insights and network of contacts took him from a Vietnam veteran to becoming one of the globe’s most sought after consultants, with clients including six of the largest energy companies and the United States government.
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