4 posts tagged “qotd”

Do you consider yourself a patriotic person?  Why or why not?

No. In fact, I consider myself anti-patriotic.

My main reason for being anti-patriotic is quite simple really. I think patriotism (e.g. "love for or devotion to one's country") is illogical and dangerous.

Just because some government happens to be in control of the geographic region I happen to inhabit, doesn't mean that I am willing to die (or kill) for it. Because, after all, a "country" is really nothing more than a territory controlled by some government. I agree to follow all the laws and regulations of this government, primarily because I am afraid of the consequences I could face for not doing so, but it doesn't mean that I agree to make any sacrifices for it, love it, or whatever else is considered patriotic nowadays.

I love humanity. However I do not love people that happen to live under the control of the same government, that I live under control of, any more than any other people.

I am willing to make sacrifices for the well-being of all. But I am not willing to make any sacrifices for the wellbeing of some at the expense of the rest.

I consider myself a citizen of the world, and I am not planning on joining the herd of flag-waving patriots that for some bizarre reason love the geographic region they inhabit (or whatever government happens to rule over them) so much, that they are often willing to kill a fellow human being who happens to live across the border, if ordered to do so, and in fact, think that they are doing the right thing. Patriotism might start with something as seemingly innocent as flag-worshiping, but it always ends with murder. Patriotism is always bad. There is no such thing as "good patriotism." And the habit of shooting "traitors" that is so common among all governments (whether communist, fascist, or democratic) is yet another proof of that.

For some reason nobody thinks that an obsessive devotion to one's town or neighborhood is a good thing, especially to the point of readiness to kill in the name of the neighborhood. Hell, I love my neighborhood - but if my local neigborhood association demanded my 100% devotion to them, forced me to honor the neighborhood symbols to the point of idolatry, or requested me to kill someone just because they live elsewhere - I would think they are nuts. However, once, we increase the scale to the size of a country this "obsessive devotion" becomes something supposedly wonderful, positive, and very much encouraged. I understand why the governments of any country encourage it - it helps them to control the population. What I don't understand is why there are so few people that question this ridiculous notion.  

- What's a saying or phrase that's never made sense to you?

"Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country."

This simply makes no sense to me. On purely logical level what is the purpose of the country if I am not supposed to ask what it can do for me? A country that doesn't do anything for its citizens should not exist to begin with.

I think people tend to forget that "countries" exist only in our heads, we just happen to be born in an area dominated by some particular government, that's all. And in the real world this saying means something rather sinister - "Ask not what your government can do for you, ask what you can do for your government." Which, without a doubt, is something our governments would really like us to follow.

Now, if the saying was instead "Ask not what the world can do for you; ask what you can do for your world," then it would make perfect sense, and I would sign under such a slogan. 

If you could pick a cartoon world to live in, which would it be?  Why?
Submitted by Scio, Scio.

I would of course pick the cartoon world of The Parking Lot is Full...

Stanley Garrison