| To be fair, isn't blind patriotism, or any patriotism, quite a bit like evil? It's what ever people think it is. Many people on SI are totally convinced real patriotism means calling other people traitors. On the other hand, people like you and me are equally convinced that doing that sort of thing is the opposite of what we think patriotism "should" be. I think what it all comes to down to what kind of world you want, and what means you are willing to use to accomplish what you want. The people who are "blind patriots" as you call them, simply have a different vision for America, and a different vision of humanity. You and I might think their vision is dark and angry- but those would be our value judgments- which like all value judgments, are shaped totally by our subjective feelings- just as they are over "evil". The vision of those with whom we disagree may be a vision that is horrible to people who like diversity, but that doesn't make it "wrong", imo. If the majority of people want that kind of America, then that is what we will have. Of course we have to hope that is not what most Americans want, and we have to try to work against it. Not because it is "wrong", it isn't necessary to go that far, but because that vision is incompatible with what we see as the most useful and productive path. |
