Thursday, January 10, 2008

"Patriotism" in Junior's America

Monkey see...
Patriotism, in Junior Bush's brave new America, is really nothing more than jingoism, tribalism, and a tool with which to intimidate and beat down political opposition. What passes for patriotism today is a facade to mask cowardice and greed, and to glorify ignorance and bigotry.

Apparently, to be a patriot today, all you have to do is dress in gaudy red, white, and blue attire, be white, hate Mexicans and gays, and support Junior Bush unreservedly.

...monkey do
But then again, the abuse of the term "patriotism," and the deliberate manipulation of a person's natural love for his/her home is nothing new. Here's what some other people have had to say about the matter:

Heroism on command, senseless violence, and all the loathsome nonsense that goes by the name of patriotism - how passionately I hate them! --Albert Einstein

A nation is a society united by a delusion about its ancestry and by common hatred of its neighbours. --William Ralph Inge

Can anything be stupider than that a man has the right to kill me because he lives on the other side of a river and his ruler has a quarrel with mine, though I have not quarrelled with him? --Blaise Pascal

Or my favorite:

The love of one's country is a splendid thing. But why should love stop at the border? --Pablo Casals

2 comments:

  1. Shus liJanuary 11, 2008 at 9:23 AM

    Great! Will you elaborate, please,on how patriotism is tribalism?

    Because, I heard the most offensive comment two days ago from a caregiver of a patient of mine. He said, about Africans, "it's not that they're not intelligent, the just haven't been exposed to things like we have. They [he was referring to Africans. All Africans? Some Africans? No, just Africans in general, apparently.] need to get over their tribal mentality. We Europeans got over our tribal ways, and so should they."

    ReplyDelete
  2. RidwanJanuary 13, 2008 at 1:13 AM

    I am still shocked when I read/hear folks just talk racist right out and refer to "those Mexicans who come here."

    Bush has made racism a family value in a nationalistic sense.

    Shush li I am always amazed when Europeans speak of African tribalism.

    I guess World I and II were civil interactions via the barrel of the gun?

    Peace,
    Ridwan

    ReplyDelete

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