Posted on 09/14/2010 9:48:23 AM PDT by An Old Man
[From The Case for Legalizing Capitalism] - Having learned that the government acts in ways detrimental to its citizens economically, and by causing wars, we should ask exactly why we support our politicians, why we support most of our military operations, and why we support our very national identity. In short, we should ask ourselves why we are patriotic.
What is patriotism? What exactly are we supporting when we are patriotic? If the answer is "our country," does that mean a geographical region that our government has artificially and arbitrarily identified as its own? If so, does our patriotism change when the boundaries change? Should we not have been patriotic toward the southwestern states before we stole them from Mexico? Should the residents there have been patriotic toward the United States once they were forced to be citizens? Should the citizens of the various countries of the Soviet republic have been patriotic to the USSR after they were forced at gunpoint to be countrymen? Should the citizens of Czechoslovakia — who were forced together by Woodrow Wilson — have been patriotic toward the Czech republic or to Slovakia after the nation split up? Geographical borders are only imaginary, temporary, lines.
Is patriotism instead the act of being loyal to the land itself, specifically the land upon which one grew up? If so, should someone who grows up in Nevada but moves to Connecticut for their career be patriotic toward Nevada or Connecticut? One might reply that the answer is both, because one lived in and identified with both regions
Near the end of the article we find the following:
Almost everything we see government doing today consists of this: bankers, car companies, airlines, and steel companies are subsidized at the expense of taxpayers so that they don't have to go out of business; workers are protected from having to receive market wages; poor workers are protected with a minimum wage; companies are regulated so that they don't harm consumers; government forces the negation of contracts such that borrowers can benefit at the expense of lenders; inflation is generated so that more money can be taken from taxpayers and given to others; environmental legislation is imposed in order to let environmentalists "protect our environment" at the expense of the rest of us; one industry is prevented from producing a particular product so that another industry's profits will not be affected. The list literally goes on and on for tens of thousands of pages (in the national register).
Though all of these actions are detrimental to society, politicians don't care. What they care about is getting votes. They care about getting re-elected. They will therefore do what appears to help voters, even though their actions usually harm voters. The long-term health of the country is not in their interest; the short-term success of their career is. They do not know exactly what would help or what would harm, but they need not be concerned with such immaterial matters.
This is why it is so vitally important for voters themselves to understand what helps and harms them. If voters would demand of politicians the things that would truly benefit them, politicians would give it to them, for they will pass or not pass whatever laws will get them votes.
Uh, will the FisCons and the MilCons start to fightin’?
“by causing wars, we should ask exactly why we support our politicians, why we support most of our military operations, and why we support our very national identity. In short, we should ask ourselves why we are patriotic”
We should ask what the term “patriotic” meant originally (i.e., according to the Greeks). A patriot is one who follows the ways of his fathers. Not one who blindly abides national authority.
In the case of America, that’d be the ways of our so-called “Founding Fathers,” who, surprise, weren’t keen on politicians (other than themselves), wars (other than against oppressive imperial masters), or meddling national governments (other than the one they created). They made their very own nation (namely, the U.S.), but begrudgingly (well, according to certain people not named Hamilton, Madison, or Jay), and not one like the one we have now. They also wasted little time getting into wars and letting politicians run wild, but whattya gonna do?
LOL, Democrats assumption is that their policies are actually fixing the country, not destroying it as many of us view it.
Lately I been hearing talk of ‘economic patriotism’ on MSNBC (ED Schultz) regarding punishing corporations for moving overseas to avoid all the new taxes, regulations and mandates they are supporting. He with the regular union leaders on his show is calling for a ‘buy American’ bill in congress to impose trade tariffs to those countries that do not compete fairly, meaning they are not trying to make their products MORE expensive like we do.
” Lately I been hearing talk of ‘economic patriotism’ on MSNBC (ED Schultz) regarding punishing corporations for moving overseas to avoid all the new taxes, regulations and mandates they are supporting. He with the regular union leaders on his show is calling for a ‘buy American’ bill in congress to impose trade tariffs to those countries that do not compete fairly, meaning they are not trying to make their products MORE expensive like we do. “
You can’t stop a company from leaving. You can hurt them as they leave, but you can’t stop them.
Patriotism is love of country and it’s way of life-It has little to do with government. If this writer believes that politicians can be swayed by votes, he or she needs to lay of the kool-aid. For how long have we supported enforcing the border, only to be denied again and again?
America never “stole” the south western states. Mexico declared war after the independent country of Texas overwhelmingly voted to be annexed as a US state. As a result of the conclusion of this war, Mexico ceded the south western territories to the US, via a fully legal treaty.
The idea that we “stole” the southwestern states is an Aztlan myth....designed to justify the illegal immigrant invasion.
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