Your People Before Yourself, Patriotism

It’s fine for passive citizens whose allegiance is more or less irrelevant. If you were a functioning part of the framework –allegiance would be different. A soldier, for example, can’t question his orders. He must obey them, unless of course they are illegal. Our current climate nearly has solders requiring basic training in military law – with all the appeasement we’ve been attempting in Iraq when civilians get killed.

Sometimes bad things have to happen to protect good things, and we need people willing to do the bad things. Those are patriots. Those are men like Oliver North who stand up and take blame honorably. Those men are like the SEAL team that shot those poor confused pirates in the head.

Sacrifice. Your people before yourself. Patriotism.

I wouldn’t call the US a big company. Yeah, the government is, but the United States of America and the Constitution are much more than that. They are an idea. That is what America is – it’s not just this jackass government. I don’t understand how one can be a patriot “for now” unless they plan to change some core beliefs – like becoming a socialist.

If Denmark (referenced from previous post) or any country wants to impose their government on my people – I’ll fight them for no other reason than the fact that a foreign – unelected – group is compelling something on my people. This is a primal patriotic response. The Taliban and Al Qaeda use it to convince people who don’t know any better to fight the Iraqi and Afghan governments.

Also – if our government became unjust or oppressive – like Iraq and Afghanistan WERE – that would be a different story. I would then fight the government as a patriot to the United States of America. Of course, some of the people I would be fighting would also be patriots. It’s a matter of politics at such a points.

Regardless, politics doesn’t dilute the meaning of patriotism. Patriots put their society before themselves. And despite the trends in word use, patriotism is just as important during times of peace. Patriots support and protect their society in millions of ways besides killing rivals and aggressors – like trimming tree branches away from stop signs and clearing snow away from fire hydrants.

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