On Thu, Sep 13, 2001 at 10:20:42PM -0400, R. Hotchkiss wrote:
> [...]
> Put your flag out now so that someday we'll be able to have a truly peace
> loving country and world.
I agree with Margie, but would like to add the following:
I have noticed that patriotism is often viewed as compulsory in the
U.S. Compulsory patriotism is not patriotism.
For a patriotic sentiment to have value, it must be voluntary, and the
only way it can truly be voluntary is to accept its absence without
judgement. Different people express national pride in different ways
and for different reasons. If the people of our neighborhood choose
not to fly flags, that is their choice. We shouldn't conclude that
they are less patriotic because of it.
Does this mean there is no such thing as patriotism? It might.
But when Americans talk about ours as the greatest and most
compassionate democracy ever to grace the planet (someone's quote on
CNN this week), I conclude only that they have not traveled or read
very much. When someone talks about all-American this or that, I feel
racism, because I don't know what qualities an all-American something
has, but it seems to be ad hoc in ways that would be impolite to
specify. (Can a black boy in a wheel chair be all-American?)
And when people tell me I should fly flags, I feel traces of the thing
that in more concentrated form gave us McCarthyism. I feel I am being
judged on the quality of my expression of my citizenship and feelings
of national belonging by people who don't know me.
I don't have any beef with people flying flags. I just bristle when
it's proposed that doing otherwise is wrong. That's not indicative of
a really free society.
-Jeff Abrahamson
> > --On Thursday, September 13, 2001 5:14 PM -0400 Margie Politzer
> > <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> >
> > ....
> > > strengthen our alienation. Until now, we have been spared serious acts of
> > > terrorism. But now, we no longer feel omnipotent and can perhaps have
> > > more of an understanding of people in other nations' feelings of
> > > vulnerability. I think this is a time for us to start thinking of
> > > ourselves as citizens of the world (if we haven't already done so).
> > >
> > > Margie Politzer
--
Jeff
Jeff Abrahamson <http://www.purple.com/jeff/>
----
You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the
list named "UnivCity." To unsubscribe, see <http://list.purple.com>
