|
|
PATRIOTISM, n. 1) The inability to distinguish between the government and one's "country"; 2) A highly praiseworthy virtue characterized by the desire to dominate and kill; 3) A feeling of exultation experienced when contemplating heaps of charred "enemy" corpses; 4) The first, last, and perennial refuge of scoundrels.
PATRIOT, n. A dangerous tool of the powers that be. A herd
member who compensates for lack of self-respect by indentifying with an
abstraction. An enemy of individual freedom. A fancier of the rich, satisfying
flavor of boot leather.
-- from The American
Heretic's Dictionary edited by Chaz Bufe (See Sharp Press)
PATRIOTISM, A MENACE TO LIBERTY
by Emma Goldman, 1911
WHAT is patriotism? Is it love of one's birthplace, the place of childhood's
recollections and hopes, dreams and aspirations ? Is it the place where,
in childlike naivete, we would watch the fleeting clouds, and wonder why
we, too, could not run so swiftly? The place where we would count the
milliard glittering stars, terror-stricken lest each one "an eye should
be," piercing the very depths of our little souls? Is it the place where
we would listen to the music of the birds, and long to have wings to fly,
even as they, to distant lands? Or the place where we would sit at mother's
knee, enraptured by wonderful tales of great deeds and conquests ? In
short, is it love for the spot, every inch representing dear and precious
recollections of a happy, joyous, and playful childhood?
More...
Are anarchists against Nationalism?
The Anarchist FAQ
The state, as we have seen, is a centralised body invested with power
and a social monopoly of force. As such it pre-empts the autonomy of localities
and peoples, and in the name of the "nation" crushes the living, breathing
reality of "nations" (i.e. peoples and their cultures) with one law, one
culture and one "official" history. Unlike most nationalists, anarchists
recognise that almost all "nations" are in fact not homogeneous, and so
consider nationality to be far wider in application than just lines on
maps, created by conquest. Hence we think that recreating the centralised
state in a slightly smaller area, as nationalist movements generally advocate,
cannot solve what is called the "national question."
More...
Last updated: December 27, 2004
|