You wrote: "Patriotism is a pernicious form of
psychopathic idiocy".
and
"Actually, patriotism is selfish, narrow
minded and obsolete".
and
"I prefer Thomas Paine's brand of
patriotism when he said:
'My country is the world, all men are my brothers and to do good is my religion'".
Yes and yes again. The KKK operate under the umbrella of patriotism. The Nazis/Neo-Nazis do too.
'Patriotism' is also defined as 'love' (of one's country/homeland). This equating of the two words is dangerously erroneous. Patriotism often requires not love, but hatred, of anything and anyone who is not 'of' that country or homeland.
Hear! Hear! Well said, CB
Conservatives accuse liberals of hating America, but it is conservatives who hate America, not liberals. Liberals only hate what the conservatives and right wing extremists are trying to make of America. I say that conservatives hate America because you have to hate America if you support sacrificing American soldiers in unjust wars over oil, if you favor polluting our rivers, lakes and streams and trashing our forests for profit; if you are against a living wage for the working men and women of America, if you oppose affordable health care and housing for all Americans; if you think that Social Security and the progressive income tax are a communist plot; if you support deficit producing tax breaks and loopholes for the rich and corporations and wasteful and unnecessary military spending and then favor balancing the budget on the backs of the poor and if you oppose campaign finance reform, greater media access for the people and freedom from want for every American. The conservatives, it seems only love that part of America that is made up of the rich and the corporations and either hate or are indifferent to the workers and the poor. They attest to the truth of Samuel Johnson's observation that:"Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel," and Shaw's assertion that:"Patriotism is a pernicious form of psychopathic idiocy." They are getting rich by promoting the interests of the wealthy and the corporations over those of the poor and the disadvantaged. THEIR patriotism is a sham and a fraud and they are the real enemies of America and the American people. Actually, patriotism is selfish, narrow minded and obsolete. I prefer Thomas Paine's brand of patriotism when he said:"My country is the world, all men are my brothers and to do good is my religion."
Conservatives accuse liberals of hating America, but it is conservatives who hate America, not liberals. Liberals only hate what the conservatives and right wing extremists are trying to make of America. I say that conservatives hate America because you have to hate America if you support sacrificing American soldiers in unjust wars over oil, if you favor polluting our rivers, lakes and streams and trashing our forests for profit; if you are against a living wage for the working men and women of America, if you oppose affordable health care and housing for all Americans; if you think that Social Security and the progressive income tax are a communist plot; if you support deficit producing tax breaks and loopholes for the rich and corporations and wasteful and unnecessary military spending and then favor balancing the budget on the backs of the poor and if you oppose campaign finance reform, greater media access for the people and freedom from want for every American. The conservatives, it seems only love that part of America that is made up of the rich and the corporations and either hate or are indifferent to the workers and the poor. They attest to the truth of Samuel Johnson's observation that:"Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel," and Shaw's assertion that:"Patriotism is a pernicious form of psychopathic idiocy." They are getting rich by promoting the interests of the wealthy and the corporations over those of the poor and the disadvantaged. THEIR patriotism is a sham and a fraud and they are the real enemies of America and the American people. Actually, patriotism is selfish, narrow minded and obsolete. I prefer Thomas Paine's brand of patriotism when he said:"My country is the world, all men are my brothers and to do good is my religion."
Money plays too great a role in American politics. No one can get elected to any major political office in America without spending a small or a large fortune. This money, usually donated by the wealthy and the major corporations is rarely given without strings attached. There isn't a man or a woman in Congress who isn't a bought off crook, owned and controlled by corporate America or the Fortune 500. From mayors to governors to the President himself - all of our political "representatives" are hirelings, prostitutes and puppets of the plutocracy. They represent the military lobby, the medical lobby, the landlord lobby, everyone, in fact except the American people. This is a plutocracy, not a democracy. Your right to choose between bought off crook number one or bought off crook number two every four years does not constitute a government of, by and for the people. We will never have a true democracy until we completely eliminate the private funding of political campaigns. It is also necessary to nationalize the media. As they presently exist they represent the interests of corporate America, being owned and controlled by them and are nothing but forces for reaction, fascism and extreme conservativism,(when was the last time you heard a socialist or and environmentalist in the mainstream media?) Our government and our media are nothing but a collection of cheap, or rather expensive whores, and there is no more blatant example of this than the infamous Bush Administration. The earth is dying, war, poverty, inequality and political repression are increasing all over the world and this is because we have allowed a rotten and corrupt media and a government of prostitutes to rule us completely. The people can change this if they want to badly enough and if they place more importance on the fate of the earth than on Monday Night Football.