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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group

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To: broadstbull who wrote (94483)4/18/2003 11:08:06 AM
From: Sun Tzu  Read Replies (2) of 281500
 
> If you can't see that Yiwu hates America you're blind.

Why do you care about her motives? Motivations are overrated, imo. I much prefer an intelligent adversary who points out my flaws and helps me perfect them than a dumb friend who persuades me to ignore them.

What I've found disturbing in some of your posts and those of others is your willingness for blind support of what you consider "America" but boils down to "government". In that regards you are more like Yiwu who considers Tibet a property of China (and China better than all the rest because she was born there) than not.

What is most impressive and unique about the American constitution is its mistrust of the government. To my knowledge no other constitution in the world has that perspective. This is reflected in so many parts of the constitution from the separation of powers and the rights of each branch (including the fact that only Congress can declare war) to first, second, third, forth, fifth, sixth, eighth, fifteenth, nineteenth, and twenty fourth amendments. Mistrust of the government and protecting the rights of the people and the ideals of the Declaration of Independence from the government is core to being American.

Unlike other countries, in America, patriotism is not loyalty to the King or the Government; it is loyalty to the constitution and the ideals in the Declaration of Independence. Those who diminish these ideals and justify them through scare tactics or out of "pragmatic concerns" for the business are destroying America in much more insidious ways than obvious attacks by people like Osama.

Patriotism as the belief that my country is better than all the rest simply because I was born in it is as dumb as it is un-American. Motivations of others to rub in the past or present mistakes is also irrelevant, if annoying. So long as they point out reasonably arguable case, they are doing a service to America.

Sun Tzu
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