Letters to the Editor
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@ ann1960
"Ok, so I'm at the Olympics. Call me silly, but I'd be rooting for the Americans in say, ice hockey. OOops! I can't wave the American flag. Hmm. What to do? Or, is waving an American flag (or any other flag) for some athletes a bad thing? Just wondering how far you'll take this thing."
What to do, what to do...
Well, there's no right answer, of course, you do what you're comfortable with.
Speaking for myself, I don't know if the Olympics does more harm than good in the fostering of world peace and understanding. In general, I do think nationalism is ill-advised, that it does more to separate us than to unite us.
I also believe in a world without borders, that we sink or swim together.
I understand that right now we have nations, but I think it's important to work towards a world without them.
"Imagine there's no countries, it isn't hard to do..."
I'm a deeply passionate Yankees fan. I love the Yankees and I love baseball.
At the same time, I'm disturbed by the sort of mindless loyalty such fandom creates. I think it's akin to the sort of culture that unleashed World War I.
But I love baseball so much I look past it.
I guess it just depends on context. What's the message behind any particular expression of nationalism or patriotism?
I was sent to the principal's office in junior high school for refusing to stand for the pledge of allegiance. To me, I just couldn't bring myself to participate in what seemed to me cultural brainwashing. That was my choice. I didn't criticize others for standing, but exercised my own right to think freely.
So I guess that's what I'm saying about Obama: it's far, far more important to me that he be a free-thinker than that he be locked into rote and often hollow expressions of patriotism just to gain the trust of a certain segment of society.
That sort of pandering is just not what I'm looking for in a leader.