What is patriotism to you? The extreme right has seemed to commandeer all of the symbols of patriotism and taken a "if you're not with us your against us" fascist stance. Waving the American Flag has come to mean you love your country even if you spew words of hate and war mongering. This breaks my heart. I am no less a patriot because I do not support war and killing for mindless reasons.
This is a constant struggle for me because my friends on the right think I am un-American because I oppose war. My friends on the far left sometimes think I am not really committed to the cause because I still support the individual men and women who make up our US military force. This age old battle leaves true patriots in limbo. That's not to say I am more patriotic then the next person but I think there are thousands of people out there just like me who's voice never really gets heard. We are forced to chose one side or the other and sadly many choose the side to the right. Blind patriotism is just as dangerous as having no patriotism at all.
To me patriotism is having the courage to stand up for what you believe in. To love your country enough to want to change the things that need changing. To stand, like our forefathers, in the face of adversity and say fuck you controlling freaks you're not gonna tell me how to live my life anymore. So I say fuck you to this war in Iraq and have since the beginning. This does not make me unpatriotic, it does not make me un-American, it does not mean I wish the men and women, many of who are my friends and loved ones, to be harmed or poorly treated. It simply means that I do not think we should be over there fighting. To that end I have done everything in my power to convince the people in power and my friends and allies that in some smart way this war has to end. I think dissent is the purest form of patriotism.
Why is this question of patriotism coming up today? Today's record of course. Today was "Ballad of the Green Berets and Songs of Americas Fighting Men". All of the songs were pretty gun ho military and war but there was an odd ray of hope for me in this nine song album. The very last song on side two was "Ain't Gonna Study War No More" This is one of the battle cries of the anti-war movement and here it was on a record that seemed to be glorifying war. This forced me to listen to the entire record one more time and really listen to the words this time. What i realized was that for the most part this record epitomized my feelings on war and patriotism. There was on one lyric that was gun ho war most of them were talking about the individual soldiers who were simply doing their job and coming home in pine boxes. It served as a reminder the power of symbols and how its time for us to take back our symbols and our music and make it what it really stands for.
Ballad of the Green Berets
- Ballad of the Green Berets
- When This Cruel War is Over
- The USA
- When Johnny Comes Marching Home
- LBJ and Liberty
- The Truth is Marching On
- Fight No More
- Over in Vietnam
- Aint Gonna Study War No More
A patriot must always be ready to defend his country against his government. -Edward Abby
Patriotism is supporting your country all the time and your government when it deserves it.- Mark Twain
Dissent is the highest form of patriotism. -Howard Zinn
You're not supposed to be so blind with patriotism you can't face reality. What's wrong is wrong, no matter who says it. -Malcolm X
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