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Posted by nu-monet v9.0 on 07/16/06 18:29
Alric Knebel wrote:
>
> Blind obedience to any government is sick. The
> government is to exercise the will of the people,
> not impose its will upon them. The corny patriotic
> stuff...
That is a twisted and dark conception of what is meant
by patriotism. Certainly patriotism can be distorted
to evil ends, but that is the exception, rather than
the rule, and is mostly done by dictatorial and
authoritarian regimes. But even in the darkest of
places, patriotism still holds many noble and honorable
feelings.
Patriotism is the recognition that an individual shares
a common ground with his neighbors. That they have a
background, universally seen as a physical place, in which
they share a history, an ethos, and a philosophy of society.
Patriotism also implies a selflessness and charity that
is offered to your kinsman that would not be given to
those in other lands.
An example of this is the hurricane Katrina disaster.
Though it could be given other justifications, such as
religion, or humanitarianism, or whatever, the responses
to Katrina were in essense patriotic. People from all
over America volunteered, donated and contributed to help
others. And yet, many of those who did so, did no such
thing after the Mexico City earthquake. For though they
might have felt empathy for its victims, they lived in
another country.
A different example of patriotism is love of country.
Only in the least can this be indoctrinated, compared to
the tremendous emotion that fills some people when they
think of their native country. Even during the harsh
days of the old Soviet tyranny, Russians returning home
on Aeroflot were commonly seen to break into tears on
re-entering Russian airspace.
Yet another example are those who profoundly love the
philosophical basis for their nation. In the case of
Americans, who love the Constitution and the Bill of
Rights, and embrace the "democratic revolution", which
began with the founding of America. They live and breath
its principals, more than the place or its people. For
them, the spreading of concepts found in their revolution
is more important than life itself.
For this last group, patriotism is best expressed by being
shared with others, so that they might also have the
patriotism that comes from living in a free democracy.
There is no cynicism in this, either. For them, the
greatest of patriots are those that free slaves, people
who do not live in a free democracy.
Patriotism keeps nations together, and it is why there will
never be a broad and powerful one-world government. Because
there is nothing such a government of the world could offer
that is anything close to what patriotism can give a nation
or its people.
Efforts to undermine patriotism, derisively called
nationalism, are instead causing the ruination of the EU,
a colorless assembly meant to represent a generic people,
created out of the fear that difference makes war. It is
a bland and lifeless organization, and one destined to fail
in its grand schemes, because it lacks the soul found in
patriotism.
--
Be Sure To Visit the 'SubGenius Reverend' Blog:
http://slackoff.blogspot.com/
***********
Herring communicate with each other
via a high-pitched, "raspberry"-like
sound emitted from their anuses.
These noises are not produced by
digestive gases.
-- from 'The New Scientist'
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