Patriotism assumes that our globe is divided into little spots, each one surrounded by an iron gate. Those who have had the fortune of being born on some particular spot, consider themselves better, nobler, grander, more intelligent than the living beings inhabiting any other spot. It is, therefore, the duty of everyone living on that chosen spot to fight, kill, and die in the attempt to impose his superiority upon all the others.
- Emma Goldman, Patriotism: a menace to liberty
I preface this with an apology and a personal statement. First I apologize for writing this in what is otherwise a ‘technical’ blog. However I feel this issue needs talked about or at the least I need a place to vent. It feels to me that any thing that isn’t considered ‘patriotic’ is enough reason for someone to be a terrorist. When I was in high school and the Patriot act was new I was furious and was vocal about the bill trying to get people to understand the implications it held. I was told that if I don’t like it I should leave and if I had nothing to hide I shouldn’t be worried. This, to me, is the height of ignorance. Just because I say “I don’t like where America is headed” I should leave? This brings me to what the point of this article is, that patriotism is detrimental to any society. If you love your country, thats fine, if you love it and want to fight for it, thats ok, but to say that your country is better than the rest of the world and that “god smiles on us” is border line retarded. Lets do some reading shall we?
According to the Economist Intelligence Unit’s Democracy Index 2008, the United States has a government functioning score of 7.86 out of 10, which makes the United States tied for twenty-fourth with Austria, Brazil, Cape Verde, Slovenia, South Africa, and Spain in that category. Finland and Sweden are tied for first, scoring a perfect 10.
http://rankingamerica.files.wordpress.com/2009/04/functioning-governmentxlsx.jpg
Tied for 24th? How can this be we’re gods land! What dies this actually tell us though? Well it tells us the minimum quality of functioning of government. If democratically-based decisions cannot or are not implemented then the concept of democracy is not very meaningful or it becomes an empty shell”. This next statistic is a shocker to me. We rank THIRD in poverty. That’s right we have a poverty rating of 17% as of April 26 2009. Mexico, ranked number one in poverty (Africa wasn’t included in this list) with a poverty rating of 18.6%. That’s not much different than our poverty rating is it? (source). We do rank first in calorie intake per day – per person though. (source). We’re also 34th in overall math scores. (source). We LOST ground there and are sitting at -9. France has -15! Come on, if this is supposed to be the best country in the world why aren’t we kicking more ass with our education and other areas? Because as much as it pains me to say, America is not great anymore. Sure we’re still a first world nation but we’re arrogant, cocky, and have nothing to back it up with other than a military. Sorry but I’d rather have a smart population than one obsessed with war. Lets try to get America back up shall we?