Greg Allen says:

>> SparkyOne said, on July 3rd, 2010 at 5:10 pm
>> 55% increase in death taxes coming 01-01-2011. patriotism yea, this robinhood bullshit, no

You can always spot the brainwashed conservatives when they use focus-grouped terms like “death taxes” instead the real names for things.

McCullough says:

I’ll let you know tomorrow night, after my 14th beer and 7th hot dog….*belch*.

Just kidding, I’ll be hiking in Utah enjoying this country, and not waving fucking American flags made in China.

chris says:

In high school I resisted going to a pep-rally because my school, like most others, was populated almost entirely by douche-bags. I asked instead to go the library where I could learn more stuff. I was denied the library and instead just went home. Then I wrote a letter to the school newspaper describing this situation. It was printed and I got a lot of positive comments from my teachers, which was sort of surprising.

This just brings me back. First, both of the interlocutors are douche bags. They remind me of practitioner sociology books. These tomes rarely push ideas, mostly they dump on papers by other professional sociologists. Sort of a bitchy game of “telephone” with big words.

If you gain self worth by supporting or resisting some philosophy I have nothing against you. At the same time it is deeply unsatisfying to say that it is always situational, because then you are saying exactly nothing.

I am against a coerced or advertised “pep.” The value of a free society is that there is a changing balance of consent and dissent.

Let me give an example. After 9/11, Bush and his people took to wearing a specific flag lapel pin. It looks like the flag is unfurled in a breeze. This pin, its representation anyway, started to appear on red state road signs.

Obama wears a flag lapel pin of different design, his looks like the flag is laid out square.

Stuff on that level, and most of it is on that level, is entirely without value. Mostly when people talk about “the team” they want you to do something for them without any reciprocal action on their part.

I am not a politically partisan person because I haven’t found a party that stands for my beliefs. That doesn’t mean I am unable to express a political opinion. The Republican party since Nixon has become more and more wrong. It is now exactly wrong and varies only in enthusiasm for its wrongness.

The best ones we ever produced were: FDR, Andrew Jackson, and Thomas Jefferson. That is pretty good.

For comparison, the worst ever: Woodrow Wilson, Alexander Hamilton, and Ronald Reagan.

TThor says:

Patriotism is the new speak for tribalism really. It is often used as something undefined and above and intangible, but demanded as a character to be considered not only acceptable but required.

Patriotism, nationalism, tribalism are good for identity and social bonding and used positively is a unifying purpose against outside enemies of all sorts.

Used wrongly we can end up in all kinds of mischiefs; Stalin used patriotism for the building of the ‘motherland’; Adolf Hitler used it for building the ‘fatherland’ with God on his side; Mao Tse Dong used it for the deification of himself’ so no need for God.

Patriotism can be a very strong tool for totalitarians to kill the subjects to question authority. Leave patriotism to develop unrestricted and democracy, free speech and rule of law will easily be set aside for a ‘higher good’.

I think we have seen examples of that lately…

pissadtobeanamerican says:

“No, its bad to have patriotism because it makes you think your better than others, and that would hurt feelings”

No, it makes you think you’re better than others and YOU’RE NOT.

America is a horrible blight on the world, and nothing to be proud of. Nothing good in the US that isn’t also found in other countries…(and if you ask why people try to get to the US, it’s for 2 possible reasons: 1– the US has made their country unlivable, and it’s better to live in the Master’s house rather than the plantation.
2– non-Americans are sometimes fooled into thinking the US is better.)

I’m (shamefully) an American, and I celebrate nothing about it. There’s nothing good about the US, no reason to celebrate. Nothing but dead Native peoples, millions of dead “enemies” and Bush destroyed what little remained that was decent about it. Obama will never be allowed to improve this hellpit, so I won’t celebrate it and will disdain those who do.

Americans, you are all descended from genocidal racists, and your insistence on continuing to glorify them makes you deserve whatever America’s enemies can dish out.

I moved overseas and will never be back.

Nugget Coombs says:

Germany had a famous Patriot, his name was Adolf Hitler…
I don’t really think I need to go any further.

pedro says:

#36 Adolf Hitler was Austrian, not German and he used a false patriotism to dupe people into following him. But the most effective thing he used was a common hate towards the “rich & people-exploiting” Jews.

But hey, never let history or a rational view get in the way of your delusions.

Civengine says:

Patriotism is just a form of tribalism which is probably an instinctual survival mechanism.

So yes, patriotism can be “ok.” If the chief of your tribe chooses to go to war, you can either go with him, or risk losing face/status which was associated with death in the olden days. Most people’s survival mechanism dictates that subconsciously they want to be part of the group/nation and go with the leader.

Everyone here that deplores Patriotism probably is a rare minority that “thinks for themselves.” Thinking for yourself is not necessarily a survival trait in a hostile world. Plentiful food, longer lives, and other luxuries have given rise to “thinkers.” Take away your nation’s food and see how soon tribalism really takes hold again.

That’s why global warming is preferable to global cooling, btw. You don’t want 400 million hungry europeans… They get grouchy.