Monday, March 28, 2011

Patriotism as an Excuse

I find that it is easy, especially in present-day America, to misuse the word "patriot", or any of it's connotations. Our politicians and media today say things such as, "If you don't support the war, you're unpatriotic", "If you say that the German human rights policies are better, you're unpatriotic", "If you prefer Canada's health system, you're unpatriotic", "Socialists, communists, fascists and terrorists are all the same". There seems to be no way to be truly patriotic without also being blind. Our country bombs civilians, more often and in larger amounts than the terrorists. Our country still has homeless people, a laughable matter considering their are countries that have solved the homeless crisis, such as Germany. Our country has people sick and dying because they can't afford any kind of health care or insurance, when countries such as Canada, most European countries, and even Cuba have systems that treat their citizens more often, in higher numbers, and tend to have longer life spans in cases of "death by natural causes". To be a patriot, in the mindset of a Conservative, I must ignore all of this. I must agree with killing civilians. I must watch people live on the street, and ignore their cries for help. I must let my fellow Americans die because they couldn't afford medicine. I must support Capitalism, the reason for our overly obese, sugar-run based food system, the reason for our competitive market system where if you're not making a killing then you're the one getting killed, the reason for our total lack of regard for how our overly competitive, every-man-for-himself nature is bankrupting the world of natural resources and basic human compassion. I must disagree with socialism. I am wrong to think that sharing could help. I am wrong to think that total and absolute equality, laws based on rational ethics rather than fascist christian theocracy could better our living conditions. I am wrong to believe that there could be something better than what we already have, because we are America, the biggest, strongest, we-can-do-no-wrong-because-we-can-end-the-world-with-the-push-of-a-button country the world has today.
This is how I view the modern form of American patriotism.

Do you believe our use of the word "patriot" has been corrupted, or do you think that there is a way to say you are patriotic and still ignore the mass misrepresentation of the word? (or some other answer that disagrees with my stance as a whole?)

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