RENOUNCING NATIONAL PRIDE

               
               We've all said the pledge of  allegiance since we were in 1st grade. We've all seen bumper stickers on cars that say "God Bless America" or "Proud to be an American". We have all been convinced that America is a country to be proud of. When I became an anarchist I saw how ridiculous this is because to be proud of something, or someone, they should have done something to deserve that respect. What has america done that makes you proud? Is it how many prisoners we execute?  How good we are at buying our own debt? How many times we have meddled in foreign affairs? How many people have died in the wars that we intervened in? America has done little, if anything, to deserve the praise it receives. Our government has dug us into a hole of debt 15 trillion dollars deep. They have bombed and invaded countries that posed no threat to our national security.  They take away our rights and privacy in the name of safety from a threat that their undeclared wars create. They steal our money with the threat of prison if we don't comply. This is nothing to be proud of.
                By denouncing patriotism people will undoubtedly castrate me for supposedly disregarding our veterans sacrifices. Not the case. I pity veterans because they were sent to die and be maimed in wars that were not ours to fight. Honestly I think anarchy would be doing the men and women of the armed forces a favor because it would disband the government that has done nothing for them but send them to slaughter houses overseas for the past 60 years.  Patriotism is the belief that your country is great simply because you were born in it. Anyone who looks back at what America is responsible for and what we are currently doing cannot honestly claim that America is a magnificent country. Yes, we have more civil liberties than China or the Soviet Union, but if we continue to compare ourselves to god-forsaken communist countries and say "Well, we're not as bad as they are, so we're doing all right" then the standard will continue to drop and drop until we've become unrecognizable. Patriotism is one of the greatest lies ever created. Whenever the government wants people to serve them they call upon their patriotism. No war was ever started by the government saying "Think about yourself. Think about YOUR needs."  Virtually every war was either unnecessary or was started under exaggerated or false pretenses. Patriotism, and government in general, are two terrible lies that have kept humanity chained to an endless cycle of failure and death.