#patriotism

To oppose corruption in government is the highest obligation of patriotism. ↗

— G. Edward Griffin

#patriotism #corruption

If we really saw war, what war does to young minds and bodies, it would be impossible to embrace the myth of war. If we had to stand over the mangled corpses of schoolchildren killed in Afghanistan and listen to the wails of their parents, we would not be able to repeat clichés we use to justify war. This is why war is carefully sanitized. This is why we are given war's perverse and dark thrill but are spared from seeing war's consequences. The mythic visions of war keep it heroic and entertaining… The wounded, the crippled, and the dead are, in this great charade, swiftly carted offstage. They are war's refuse. We do not see them. We do not hear them. They are doomed, like wandering spirits, to float around the edges of our consciousness, ignored, even reviled. The message they tell is too painful for us to hear. We prefer to celebrate ourselves and our nation by imbibing the myths of glory, honor, patriotism, and heroism, words that in combat become empty and meaningless. ↗

— Chris Hedges

#media #patriotism #truth #war #death

There has seldom if ever a shortage of eager young males prepared to kill and die to preserve the security, comfort and prejudices of their elders, and what you call heroism is just an expression of this simple fact; there is never a scarcity of idiots. ↗

— Iain Banks

#soldiers #war #heroism

Unhappy the land that is in need of heroes ↗

— Bertolt Brecht

#heroism #patriotism #role-models #heroism

Our platform calls for a balanced deficit reduction plan where the wealthy pay their fair share. And when your country is in a costly war, with our soldiers sacrificing abroad and our nation facing a debt crisis at home, being asked to pay your fair share isn't class warfare - it's patriotism. ↗

— Cory Booker

#asked #balanced #being #calls #class

Unfortunately, after Sept. 11, there was an outburst in America of intense suffering and patriotism, and the Bush administration was very shrewd and effective in painting anyone who disagreed with the policies as unpatriotic or even traitorous. ↗

— Jimmy Carter

#after #america #anyone #bush #bush administration

America is a young dumb country and it needs all kinds of help. America is a dumb puppy with big teeth that bite and hurt. And we take care of America. We hold America to our bosom; we feed America, we make love to America. There wouldn't be an America if it wasn't for black people. So you have some dedicated black Americans who will die a million deaths to save America. And this is home for us. We don't know really about Africa. We talk it in a romantic sense, but America is it. And so, America is always going to be okay as long as black people don't totally lose their mind, cause we'll pick up the pieces and turn it into a new dance. ↗

— Abiodun Oyewole

#african #african-american #america #american #black

I define nothing. Not beauty, not patriotism. I take each thing as it is, without prior rules about what it should be. ↗

— Bob Dylan

#about #define #each #i #nothing

America's state religion, is patriotism, a phenomenon which has convinced many of the citizenry that "treason" is morally worse than murder or rape. ↗

— William Blum

#citizenry #convinced #many #morally #murder

I think the Hispanic community, the values that resonate in our community, are fundamentally conservative. They are faith, family, patriotism. ↗

— Ted Cruz

#conservative #faith #family #fundamentally #hispanic