How many Americans know what happened in the War of 1812, or why? How many Americans even know that the War of 1812 happened? How many know that the “Star-Spangled Banner” was about that war? How many have paid attention to, and thought about, the lyrics of the song, and what they mean? (Short version: “Things blowing up, people dying, but at least there’s still a flag on a pole.”)
I would be surprised if more than a tiny percentage know anything about the subject, or have ever thought about it. Next question: How many Americans had their feelz hurt when they heard that someone did not mindlessly perform the Pavlovian response to the national anthem that they were all trained to have? Answer: a lot.
Bonus question: How many people know that one of the verses of the national anthem (one that no one sings anymore) celebrates the slaughter of slaves trying to escape the U.S. after the British promised them freedom if they switched sides? Nope, not kidding. “No refuge could save the hireling and slave from the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave.” Nifty, huh? (I confess that I didn’t know that either until yesterday.)
And that brings me to my point here. The national pants-peeing epidemic that is going on over Colin Kaepernick (quarterback of the 49ers) choosing not to stand for the national anthem, among people who imagine themselves to be free, informed and open-minded, is just pathetically embarrassing. It has nothing to do with a debate over historical facts, or over philosophical principles—with the vast majority of Americans being blissfully clueless about both.
It has everything to do with most people being stupid but well-trained animals who snarl at any other “animal” who doesn’t feel as they do, or behave as they do, regardless of the reason. Patriotism has nothing to do with knowledge or understanding, but is simply the result of being indoctrinated into feeling blind loyalty to a certain ruling class, and into feeling a deep emotional attachment to the territory that that ruling class controls. In other words, patriotism and nationalism are all about teaching the human livestock to love their farm.
Among people who believe in freedom, most of us have marveled in horror at the cringe-worthy, moronic responses that the average American “in the street” gives to basic questions about history, law, geography, philosophy—almost anything, really. When these people get offended, it’s not because something has run afoul of their thoroughly contemplated and consistent moral code, nor is it because it conflicts with their in-depth understanding of the realities of history and the world.
Usually when they get offended, it’s because their brains don’t know how to process the concept of someone who doesn’t mindlessly think and do whatever they themselves think and do. Sure, Americans love to pretend that they’re open-minded, free-thinking, progressive, even non-conformist and rebellious. But when it comes to anything that matters, most Americans are mindless robots, and any idea or behavior outside of their narrow little view of reality simply “does not compute.” And that makes them sad, or mad.
“Why isn’t that person over there exactly like me, damn it!? He must be evil! He wants to ruin the world!”
Before it is worth having a discussion of why Colin Kaepernick did what he did, Americans should look in the mirror and ask themselves why they do what they do. Because most don’t have the slightest idea. Before someone asks, with clueless outrage, “Why is that person over there in the corner not saying the Pledge of Allegiance??” maybe they should ask, “Wait, isn’t a republic a ruling class? Why the hell do most of us ritualistically and repeatedly swear loyalty to a ruling class?”
Before someone asks, “How dare someone burn ‘Old Glory’??” maybe he should ask, “Why exactly do so many of us reflexively express religious reverence to a certain red-white and blue pattern on a piece of cloth?” And instead of asking with exaggerated indignation, “How could that guy from the 49ers not stand for the national anthem??” maybe Americans should start with, “Why the hell do the rest of us automatically stand up whenever we hear a song about some random war that we know nothing about?”
Ah nationalism....
The loyalty to nations and their flags and songs has lead to things far worse than just standing at attention with the right hand placed over the heart. Nationalistic tendencies lead to conflicting narratives and outright lies. Take the example of the War of 1812. I live in Canada, and I was always taught the "we" won the war (rah, rah, Canada!) My mom was raised in the States and she was taught that America won the war. Funny innit?
Of course this pales in comparison to the violence and bloodshed that's born of nationalistic fervor. But I'm glad to see more and more people waking up from that. And I'm glad that you're writings have been a big part of this awakening.
Nobody wins a war. Except the banksters, crony capitalists and politicians.
Very true. It took me a long time to realize this.
I have American cousins and yes, they believe the US "won" the War of 1812. It's pointless to argue with them and links to online articles validating the British/Canadian win over the US were ignored. In any case, nationalism causes more harm than good as far as I'm concerned.
Hilarious, agreed. I would add, how many people understand the War of 1812 was created and carried out by the Rothschild Central Bank of England, to put America into so much debt, that it would force a new Central Bank on the United States of America, thus reversing what was accomplished during the revolution?
America was founded by entrepreneurs because they wanted to create a new monetary system that was not part of the Central Banking debt system. The fact we are now back in this system means all those Patriotic Americans waving their flags they bought with Federal Reserve notes are propping up a system that is so "anti-American" that it is the exact system we fought the revolutionary war to get out of.
“Things blowing up, people dying, but at least there’s still a flag on a pole.” Spat my coffee out at that one! Worth reading for that quote alone ;o)
So sad and so hard to swallow...but so true.
Great post @larkenrose. I can't find anything in it to argue with.
I learnt everything I know about the The War of 1812 from the immortal Johnny Horton :)
Quick Edit, Larken "someone who doesn’t mindless think and do whatever"
Oops. Thanks! (Fixed it.)
@larkenrose
They are not stupid. No more than me and you. They accept that the one who rules is the one who has power. Much the same dynamics take place here on Steemit (minus the killing) .
Patriotism is not just accepting that someone has power. In fact, it has nothing to do with that. It is about feeling an attachment to a place that is DEFINED by being the territorial jurisdiction of a particular ruling class. That's what a "country" is. (I'm not even sure how you think that is at all analogous to Steemit.)
I don't really give a shit if this guy sits or stands, but I do think that if he hadn't been born American he wouldn't be making millions a year playing football, and I also think the racial injustice he's protesting is the least severe its been since our founding, social media has everyone noticing things they never did before.
In short I think the reason he's sitting is mainly the exact reason you think everyone else is mad at him for sitting. he doesn't know any history.
You think the reason he is wrong to not stand up is because what he is objecting to ... used to be even worse? That's a rather odd argument.
That has nothing to do with people being "trained" and in fact rhis article is you doing the exact same thing. That's why you ended the paragraph by calling everyone else "livestock." Everyone doesn't think like you, so you attack them.
The reality is if there were no patriotism there would be tribalism, and our football proxy wars would likely be real wars.
And those "man in the street" things are utter bullshit. You film 100 people to find the 5 idiots.
You think patriotism PREVENTS wars?? Holy smokes.
Have you and all your buddies shot up the next town over lately?
Has your country shot up another lately for no good reason? Yes
You must not get outside much if you think the average person has a clue about anything.
Here's a quick question. Who has committed more acts of murder, individual citizens on their own, or militaries doing it in the name of patriotism?
Good thing there was patriotism in Nazi Germany, huh? Otherwise bad things might have happened.
"Why, of course, the people don’t want war. Why would some poor slob on a farm want to risk his life in a war when the best that he can get out of it is to come back to his farm in one piece. Naturally, the common people don’t want war; neither in Russia nor in England nor in America, nor for that matter in Germany. That is understood. But, after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy or a fascist dictatorship or a Parliament or a Communist dictatorship… Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same way in any country.” – Hermann Goering (founder of the Nazi Gestapo)
Nah, we haven't. We mostly bomb these days. And the reason is probably for oil, which depending on who you ask might be a good reason.
But hey, it's clear that you're hugely arrogant and much, much better than "the average person." They should be disrespected at all costs, and called livestock if you get a chance.
Because that makes you completely unlike them.
LOL.
Wait, does that mean that the only reason that YOU don't violently attack people ... is because you were taught to pledge allegiance to a flag and a republic? If so, don't project your lunacy on others.
Wow, that old chestnut. As if I am everyone, or as if I'm the same person I'd be growing up without a government!
Anyone who doesn't think every human has the capacity for violence should probably not be commenting on human behavior.
Remember, we've been taught not to kill for at least 2,000 years but there are still 31 gun murders per day.
Took the words right out of my mouth @larkenrose. Haha
Its lucky there was patriotism in the United States or we wouldn't have stopped the Nazi's. And for people upset about how anarchists argue, don't take it personally, this is how communists argue. They take a party line and there is no deviation from the party line, and every single person who doesn't believe what they believe is not holding a different opinion worthy of respect, they are without exception morons who are wrong, expect no civil discourse and it'll bother you less. .
Haha You clearly have no idea what you are saying and from the looks of it are getting enjoyment out of arguing. So I'll leave you to it. I enjoy inteligent and constructive debates, but I can see that this one will miss "constructive" by a longshot.
Stupid comment limits...
Nice Goering quote there. He was clearly an oracle of all knowledge.
Now, let's go back to iceland where there was "no centralized government." What happened? Oh yeah, tons of "feuds" as rival groups fought each other.
The difference is scale, really, not behavior or attitude. The same attitude you're putting on prominent display. Our beliefs are better, they are inferior.
THAT is what lets a tribe or a nation attack another.
You are the same, whether you realize it or not.
Oh, the feelz...
It's amazing isn't it.
Today I heard someone argue that the reason zero Government is bad is because we need Government to protect us from invading armies... of other Governments!!!
The same person said he didn't mind paying taxes (being subjugated by his own government) to avoid be subjugated (by another government)
You always do a great job of pointing out these kinds of flaws and I love that you don't waste to much energy arguing with people who clearly don't know how to think for themselves.
By the way, you are doing a variation of an "argument" that I always find hysterical. It goes something like this: "You just think that everyone who disagrees with YOU is wrong!"
Of course, that is true of everyone, everywhere, always. Duh. Or do you think that people who disagree with you are right?
Not what I said, and not the argument I used. I said that you attack the people who don't think like you. Verbally, in this case, by calling them livestock.
Of course everyone who disagrees with me is wrong. However, I don't think they are inferior for disagreeing with me. That is how governments justify wars, regardless of being a huge country or a small tribe.
This might be true, but that doesn't mean it's a tolerable reality. We should encourage people to rise above this kind of stupid loyalty and groupthink that's lead to so much violence and chaos.
It's not stupid loyalty and groupthink, it's instinct. During our evolution a person needed their groups acceptance to survive, and other groups were a potential threat. We've basically evolved to think of ourselves in groups. That's why we have patriotism, and why people will have rivalries with football teams, and why Texas wants to Texit... They are a group, and everyone else is a dangerous outsider.
Not saying it's good or bad, but let's accept it for what it is rather than insulting people for not being in the anarchist club. Because at that point you're no different.
Larken was actually putting it politely in this article. All of these "patriots" have been indoctrinated to do the actions they are doing and they don't even know the history behind them. Has nothing to do with instinct. I'm not aware of any children that come out of the womb and instinctively start praising flags. It takes daily indoctrination in a government day care for that one.
Humans instinctively do things everyone else around them is doing.
Spent the last half hour looking for a video I saw yesterday, but can't find it so I'll describe it quick because it's exactly what we're talking about:
There's a bunch of people sitting in a doctor's office, and the door opens. When it does everyone stands up except for an asian woman. This repeats several times, until she starts to notice and look around. Finally, she stands up too.
She wasn't indoctrinated, she observed the crowd and instinctively tried to fit in. No one taught her to stand when a door opened, but everyone around her did it so she instinctively joined in.
At the very least, its currently necisary and I'd argue its more than that but clearly currently necisary is the laziest argument you can make for government. If I had the power to say the name of a country, and snap my fingers and by doing so I made every governmental institution in that country go poof I could reduce mos, countries to bloody chaos. A few, the ones with the strongest sense of community might rebuild government before the place burned down completely but I wouldn't count on it. @larkenrose certainly knows this is true. If I snapped my fingers and got rid of the government in his home country while he was in the capital city with his family, and I gave him warning, he'd leave the city because he knows that without government enough of us will try and fill the power vaccume that there'll be a lot of rape and gunplay and theft. Government keeps those who are most violent in line. These anarchists just get off arguing theory.
Well, you gotta start somewhere! ;)
Seriously though I it's the laziest argument you could make. I think it's actually the most salient one. Anarchy is impossible, and while you state "currently" the reality is the things that make it impossible aren't changing any time soon.
I've actually realized recently that anarchism is an attempt to fight the symptom rather than the actual problem. The problem isn't government, it's people who desire power and want to or are willing to harm others for their own gain. Get rid of those, and government becomes irrelevant, as no one in government would pass tyrannical laws anyway.