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 By Jack Lepiarz June 18, 2006 I am not a person to get caught up in nationalistic fervor. I am the kind of person that feels a bit uneasy having to recite the pledge of allegiance every day in school. Not out of political protest, but simply out of the belief that I shouldn't have to hang a flag or repeatedly say how much I love my country in order to be patriotic. That said, I would like to point out that I am very, very patriotic. However, I believe that there is a very important difference between patriotism and nationalism. One of those qualities is admirable. The other is blindly following leadership, which is usually a bad idea unless you're in the military, and even then it can go wrong. The difference between these two characteristics is very simple. Patriotism is where you love your country. Not a difficult thing to grasp. Nationalism is where you love your country so much that you believe that it is better than every other country on the planet and that other countries are thereby indebted to it. Perhaps one of the best examples of that was when the United States first invaded Iraq, and a number of people began criticizing the French for not aiding us, citing that the United States had, to put in their rather absurd terms, "saved France's @ss in World War II." They believed that because an entirely different generation of Americans and a completely different America had chased the Nazis back to Germany, that France was somehow obligated to help the U.S. in Iraq. After 9/11, the government began to sell a nationalistic mentality to the American people. George W. Bush made it very clear where he stood when he stated that people were either with us or against us. That is a very serious statement, one that George Bush has shied away from lately. However, many people still believe that the U.S. is a perfect city-on-the-hill nation. They blindly follow the government, never questioning things or asking to see proof. If some of their rights get taken away in the process, then that's okay, because we're only suspending our basic Constitutional rights to fight the terrorists. They believe Dick Cheney when he says that the Iraqi insurgents are in their last throes (Which he did say, about a year ago), or when the current administration says that they will begin to withdraw troops by the end of this year. They fail to remember that those kinds of sayings were the same things that men like Lyndon Johnson and Robert McNamara were saying throughout most of the Vietnam War (which lasted longer than both of their tenures in the White House). I'm not trying to say that people shouldn't be patriotic, because that is the last thing that I want to do. However, the men and women of America should remember that questioning the authority of the government is by no means unpatriotic, but rather suggests a deeper concern for the government and a country's well-being. ------------ About the author: Jack Lepiarz is a senior at Madison High School. Born in Waco, Texas, he lived with the Big Apple Circus for much of his early childhood, eventually moving to Madison, New Jersey, where he now resides. Although he is often described as stubborn and egotistical, he tries to keep an open-mind towards new ideas and treat people the way he would like to be treated. Email: Jackwuzhere42@aol.com Comment on this article here! ------------ All articles are EXCLUSIVE to Useless-Knowledge.com and are not allowed to be posted on other websites. ARTICLE THIEVES WILL BE PROSECUTED! |
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