Warren Ockrassa wrote:
-- every bit as dangerous as blathering on and on about how America is always in the right, justified in anything it does, "my country right or wrong", etc.
I'm not sure if you thought that's what I was saying with the Decatur quote, but the context in which he said it, as well as what it means to me, is very, very far from "America is always in the right." The context was that Decatur had just succeeded in Tripoli with a daring move, but the politicos' reaction to it was to return our relationship with his foes to exactly what it was before the fighting. His response certainly could have been, "Hey, what was the point?"
He chose to talk instead about a kind of belonging that is akin to belonging to my family, which is a statement of fact whether or not I agree with them or can even stand to be around them.
Then you are responsible for its misdeeds as well? Such as, I don't know, bombing the living hell out of a country, killing thousands of innocent civilians, on totally false pretenses?
That's when confessing that it is still *my* country becomes so hard, and I'm tempted to say, "What's the point?" But until the day I renounce my citizenship, I still belong, even when I'm deeply unhappy with what I belong to. Of course, the same sort of divisions occur in my head and my heart.
1. It is your money. (I assume you earned it productively.)
2. It is my money. (I earned it, the fed did not.)
3. It is not our money. (You didn't earn my money for me. You are not entitled to any money from me gratis. I do not expect you to give me any of your money.)
Hmm. Isn't wealth inherently a property of community, even when it isn't community property? (That was fun.)
Nick
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