Michael, I am quite pleased to amuse you, but really I did not say in the same sentence that I hated America and that I am patriotic. In fact, I think my statement is totally logical!
<I want to leave America because of the increasing influence of the religious right, the fact
that there are way too many guns and too much violence, and because it is a very fast,
stressful place that is much too materialistic. I think America is truly lost because as a
nation we do not prioritize children. Because my husband is European I have the
passports to go somewhere else, and that is my choice. But that does not mean I do not
have valid insights about what happened in Viet Nam, or that my opinions about politics
here are any less significant or well informed than yours are, or that I am any less of a
patriot than you are.>
Do you remember the fathers of our country? They were English before they were American, and I am sure they loved England very much, and were patriots. Then they got very upset about an issue of taxation without representation, and withdrew from England. That is what caused the Revolutionary War. So just because you are a patriot does not mean that your country can do no wrong, or that you will never be a patriot of another country. I loved America when I was a little girl, but have gradually become disenchanted with it, as it deteriorates. That does not mean I would do anything to hurt America, or say something traitorous from foreign soil, because I would not want to see you storming up to my little Irish beach cottage on your submarine, looking for me!! And I do not think being a patriot means loving your country unconditionally, right or wrong. How will we ever fix what is wrong if that is the case? Do you believe in that definition of patriotism? |
