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.
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"Patriotic " Hysteria
Great article..and for the most part I agree... Right on !
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Patriotism vs White Nationalism
When Rev. Wright excoriated this nation for its treatment of black people and the world in general he was not speaking as an American. He was speaking as a black man in America. Blacks are still full citizens only on paper and our opinions still do not matter to any white people in positions of power. We are to do as commanded, a la Rice and Powell, and just wait to be addressed.
This country was founded on white supremacy and genocide as we all should know by now. Whites hate being reminded of it though because they still receive unearned privilege from the crimes of their ancestors. They tell themselves that they rescued slaves from Africa instead of dehumanizing them. White Americans are ALL full of shit, minus perhaps Tim Wise, Molly Secours and Noam Chomsky, to a greater or lesser degree.
Rev. Wright was facing the metaphorical KKK of this country when he spoke against the evil these men do and have done. White Christianity is the same thing. It's a religion of rhetorical ethic bound up in white nationalism, nativism, exceptionalism, xenophobia and false patriotism. White people have this psychological need to stratify society and they naturally always put themselves at the top, although eugenics has been thoroughly debunked as trash non-science.
What I keep telling people is that whites will never admit they are wrong collectively. They are told from birth and throughout life that they mean everything to this world and that nothing could exist without them. That is why it is so infuriating to hear a black men tell them the unpleasant truth, because we are the least worthy to criticize in their blue and green eyes. The media daily and minute by minute reinforces their ridiculous racial bravado. When the people that are in charge refuse to believe they can ever be wrong there is nothing the people not in charge can do except wait on the pompous asses to undo themselves from their insecurity branded as confidence and surety. This is exactly where this ill-gotten country is headed and although I am not looking forward to the further suffering it will bring blacks in America at least it will bring much needed relief to the world of six billion nonwhites.
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@ Ann1960
Another thing your question brings up is the Olympics under Hitler. 1933, was it?
Have you ever seen Triumph of the Will?
It's one of my favorite films. It's a masterpiece of cinematography and secular ritual.
It's stunning, really.
And profoundly disturbing.
I find the Germans' sense of "patriotism" awesome to behold. It's hard for me not to get chills watching it, chills both of just how beautiful the whole thing is, as well as how sinister the whole thing is, given that such sentiments were harnessed to exterminate millions of people.
So to me, I do find that sort of mass patriotism scary.
And I think that without it we'd never have gone into Iraq.
Our country suffers from not having been torn apart by war in the twentieth century.
It seems to me that Europe, having born the brunt of its own mindless nationalism, has learned its lesson and is far more skeptical of that sort of culture. They've learned their lessons, to a large extent.
I don't know.
It's not patriotism per se, but mass hysteria that frightens me.
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phonybaloney
I know how you feel...I'm sure if we gave the U.N. sanctions in Iraq another 20 years we could've limited Saddam to building only 5 new palaces a year (on the 10 billion in pilfered oil smuggling profits)...The real loser is Kofi Annan's son Kojo who was prevented from continued participation in the Oil-for-food voucher programme...Damn you George Bush...How dare you interfere with the good work of the U.N...
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just curious
Has Jeremiah Wright ever criticized the radical Muslims for their horrific treatment of women?
Just curious.
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@ ann1960
How is that relevant to anything?
I for one don't have the answer to that question, but I'd remind you that Wright's congregation is in Chicago, not the middle east.
I don't quite get your question: are you suggesting it's incumbent upon Wright to critique all the injustices visited upon people by all governments throughout the world?