Patriotism is Willful Ignorance

You may see the title of this blog post as despicable. I simply see it as true. To be a patriot, you would have a point of view that favors the place of your birth. By being willfully ignorant, you take notice of that which favors your point of view, while ignoring that which does not. Do you see a problem with my conclusion? To me, the two concepts are synonyms. So call me names. I'm OK with that.

I'll try to offer some obvious support to my quote. If you were a Japanese Citizen in the late 1930s, you saw the United States Navy place a blockade on your small island nation because the US sided with China in a centuries old battle. Your country then attacked a US Naval base that supported the blockade. A blockade of an island nation is clearly an act of war. The United States later ended the war with a nuclear attack on two civilian populations. Yes, the only nation ever to use nuclear weapons (weapons of mass destruction) on a civilian population, now objects to Iran having them. Iran would be but one of a dozen nations in today's world with nuclear weapon capability. How would you, as an American Patriot, state the history of these events? Would it be different than the view of the Japanese Patriot? Is either position true?

Another example would be the Vietnamese Patriot's view of our actions in Vietnam. We supported a corrupt government against a civil uprising. The primary excuse used was an attack on a US Naval vessel in the Gulf of Tonkin. Eye witness reports and the narration given by our acting Secretary of Defense, at the time, Robert McNamara, was that the attack was friendly fire in the fog. You can witness McNamara’s testimony in The Fog of War. A patriot, born in Vietnam, would probably say we had no business interfering in that war. American opinions vary on the involvement of our troupes in Vietnam, but I would guess that a true American Patriot backed that war. “My country, right or wrong, my country.” “United We Stand.”

Move forward to our involvement in the Middle East (starting in Iraq). We are there based on 9/11 and “weapons of mass destruction” in Iraq. George W. Bush has admitted that there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and anyone who is not willfully blind, having even a slight knowledge of physics, is aware that the Twin Towers fell by means of demolition. They obviously did not “burn down”. So, God Bless America, where the patriots live in a much rosier world than I do.

“Without Patriots there would be no war.” - The Pacifist

Cheers, Old Buz 3/6/2021

iambloggerbuz.blogspot.com

Born an agnostic and with GOD's help will remain one.