Listening to an Obama speech, after also watching Man of Steel which held a similar tone, and can feel the vomit in my throat. America is not the greatest nor most exceptional nation on the planet. The elitist, pompous, arrogant form of patriotism that breeds the notion that America is exceptional is vile. America is no more, nor for that matter any less, great than any other nation in the world, nor its people any more or less righteous, spirited or exceptional than any other. Americans are people, just like Chinese are people, Russians are people, Australians are people, Sudanese are people, Iraqis, Palestinians, Israelis, Indians, Pakistanis, Indonesians, Brits and Swedes are people, were all human. If American patriots, be they politicians, service men and women or citizens, who scream to high heaven that they hail from the greatest most exceptional nation actually believed their own declaration of independence, they would understand the meaning of the phrase We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, and its implication that there is indeed NOTHING exceptional about them, or any one nation... Beyond the semantics, sad to say over 40% of U.S. citizens are either below, on or in real danger of falling to the poverty line, in the last 10 years basic human rights have treated like a door mat for expansion of a massive surveillance state and in terms of international rule of law the U.S. bends, breaks and breaches international law like the rest of us break new years resolutions... annually. Really, nationalism masquerading as patriotism (to coin a phrase) is really just arrogance that builds the foundations of systematic societal racism and discrimination based on lines on a map. This applies to any nation, Australia included, not wanting to pick on any one country but the U.S, especially in a post 9-11 world is particularly brazen compared to most in its display of our shit dont stink End rant. (and insert disclaimer: obviously, and it should go without saying, not all Americans engage in shameless displays of stars and stripes and patriotism/nationalism exists elsewhere obviously, the exceptional country is just such a strong American narrative in media and politics.. and in some tourists)... actual End of Rant.
Posted on: Sat, 16 Nov 2013 17:28:26 +0000
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