Patriotism

Reading an article about the Anti-Imperialist league in late 19th Century USA, I came across a quotation which seems to have much bearing on the current state of play in the US and the administrations definitions of patriotism:

This Club [the Massachusetts Reform Club] never met under circumstances more calculated to create the gravest anxiety in every patriotic man than tonight, and by patriotic man I do not mean him who measures his country's greatness by the extent of her territory, the size of her armies, the strength of her fleets, or even by the insolence with which she tramples upon her weaker neighbors, but him who knows that the true greatness of a nation, as of a man, depends upon its character, its sense of justice, its self-restraint, its magnanimity, in a word upon its possession of those qualities which distinguish George Washington from the prize-fighter — the highest type of man from the highest type of beast.

- Moorfield Storey - April 1898 - on the eve of the Spanish-American War.

Rather than those who slavishly support the administration in support of the 'war on terror' the real patriots are those who are concerned with the justice and character of their nation, those who see the abuses of Guantanamo Bay and criticise them, those who campaign for justice and the rule of law, not their circumvention.

Says it all really:

Generation after generation has been told that all idealists go into politics and government, whereas greedy people go into business. It is not only untrue; the truth is the opposite. The market is not the only place that permits idealists to serve society, but it does provide a test to make sure their ideals conform to reality.

The politician may claim to have ideals, but they mostly serve as a mask for the desire to exercise power. If you doubt it, look no further than programs such as Social Security and the Iraq War. They continue long after they have obviously failed, because they serve the interests of the politically powerful.

Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr.

(okay, I would say greedy people go into business too, as evidenced by lobbying by businesses for regulation in their interests, but the general point about politicians remains).