In It for Yourself
If your next door neighbor was sending his kids out to sell crack to feed his family, would you say that he’s a family man?
Well, that’s essentially what NeoCon America is saying about the Bush Administration. They define patriotism by the willingness to sacrifice the lives and money of other people - for a corrupt agenda. In some ways, they are like children, honoring the service without questioning the goal. This is a characterstic of Nationalism; but, it has nothing to do with Patriotism. As we approach 2000 dead American soldiers, it is time to consider what we are fighting for.
America Patriotism is much more than flying a flag and sacrificing yourself blindly for someone or something. It is developed from an appreciation and understanding of freedom and democracy and knowing the extra responsibility that comes with it. Following poor leadership is just stupid – and the American concept demands that we ask for and receive sufficient answers to difficult questions during good and bad times. As a Nation, it is critical that we strive to be better than we are and to fully represent that which we espouse. Self examinization and critisism are essential to that end.
America, at it’s core, is a community of diverse ideas, freedom of expression and personal responsibility. This is what we owe our allegiance to.
The Bush Administration is not Patriotic; it is Aristocratic. Id est, it serves itself first.
There can be only one conclusion to the constant refusal to admit wrongdoing on the War in Iraq and that conclusion is that they don’t care. Refusing to take responsibility for your own actions indicates at it’s very core an attitude of arrogance. It is an attitude full of selfishness and accumulation. It is an attitude of fear and oppression. It is the attitude of dictators and monarchs.
You could make an argument that the entire Iraq war was created purely to profit the friends of the Bush/Cheney Empire. Perhaps they have no plan to leave Iraq because it profits them to remain in Iraq as long as possible – year by year sucking money out of the pockets of ordinary American taxpayers into the hands of huge corporate military industrial organizations like Halliburton. Bush Incorporated doesn’t even take responsibility for it’s own actions.
It would be nice if they did. But we should expect even more than that from our elected leaders.
Service is always about taking responsibility for more than just yourself. It is the absolute core ethos of Christianity. One giving up himself entirely for others.
None of this service is found within the Bush Administration. Take for example Bush spending 43% of his Presidency on vacation. Notice how it took him four days to react at all to Katrina. How long did it take for him to move after hearing of 9-11? The thought in their heads was only this: “How little can I do about this without appearing like I don’t care”. Everything is built around a necessity for power and little else.
They will never pass over an opportunity to exploit any disaster for personal gain. Take, for instance, hurricane Katrina. They have taken a massive natural disaster like a hurricane and are using it to cut programs for the poor, give no-bid contracts to their corporate friends like Halliburton and Carnival Cruise Lines, remove fair market value protections for workers like the Davis-Bacon Act and give additional tax cuts to developers who are ready to take advantage of desperate and devastated homeowners.
Until we replace people who are in it for themselves with people who serve others, America will continue to lose it’s standing in the world and continue to implode.
