Mass_SkinsFan Posted March 18, 2006 Share Posted March 18, 2006 Mass, that whole "Freedom isn't free" thing works both ways. IOW, if you are going to live in a free country or a tolerable facsimile of one(USA), then you are going to have to make space for those who see things much differently than you. Obviously I wasn't making myself terribly clear last night. I'm not talking about deporting people for having different opinions. I have no problem with people standing up and waving "Bush Stinks", "No War for Oil", etc... banners, bumperstickers, etc... I don't agree with them, but they have that right. HOWEVER, the moment somebody starts with the "America is a Terrorist Nation." or "I'm embaressed to be an American" bullsnot, or starts burning the emblem of this country it's time for them to be shown the reprecussions of their unpatriotic activities. I'm not sure if you're able to see the difference between the two things. Maybe I'm not explaining it well. To me it's the difference between attacking the government/policy (which I have no problem with) and attacking the COUNTRY, which I have a MAJOR problem with. It's just part of the deal, it's always been this way and it really makes us stronger in the long run. Why? Because America is among the only sovreignties in world history that can experience a spontaneous unifying force. When Pearl Harbor occured, we didn't need our patriotism enforced or prescribed...the people rose and the battle was joined and, quite frankly, we were unbeatable in our voluntary unity. I have to both agree and disagree with this part of your comments. Yes, the variation of opinion is one of the strengths of this country. It always has been and always will be. HOWEVER, in the past patriotism has not been one of those things that there has been a variance of opinion on. The people rose as one after Pearl Harbor because of their patriotic nature. After Sept. 11th (the closest we will hopefully ever see to another Pearl Harbor) we had numbers of people telling us that we deserved to be attacked. How do you think that reaction would have gone over in 1941? I think it would have been met with a hail of gunfire, personally. And THAT'S where I see this problem coming from. The legislation and enforcement of pro-patriotism laws and (gasp) ammendments would deny the US its unique ability to join various races and classes under one flag for a single good and instead turn us into a wealthier, more amoral version of the 1970's USSR. And that would be the end of the dream. I would have to disagree with that concept. As I said earlier, I'm not interested in ending freedom of speech of stiffling alternate opinions on politics, or public policy. I'm interested in seeing this country once again populated by people who want to be Americans. Who are interested in building up this country, not tearing it down. All that said, this is still the finest nation that ever was and nobody can take that from us - except ourselves. GBA! Yes, this is the greatest nation in history. Unfortunately I don't believe it's quite as great today as it was in say the late 1940's or the 1950's. We've advanced technologically, but we've regressed socially and morally. That scares me quite a bit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mass_SkinsFan Posted March 18, 2006 Share Posted March 18, 2006 Mass_SkinsFan,Don't know about current situations but Spanish, Chinese, Russian, German and maybe Italian or Japanese (or one of several asian languages) would all have worked for you a one time. Actually Darth, my family has had an interesting take on foreign languages. My Great-Grandfather came to this country from Rus-Poland (German/Polish border area) in 1910 speaking 7 languages (German, Polish, French, Slovak, Croatian, Russian and English). Once they got to the United States he spoke almost exclusively ENGLISH until he died in 1974. He forbade his wife to teach any language other than english to their 8 children. My grandfather and father spoke nothing other than english in their entire lives. I speak just enough french to get myself to the bathroom and to count/recite the alphabet. Nothing more. So far as my family is concerned, we're Americans and Americans speak english. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skinfan133 Posted March 18, 2006 Share Posted March 18, 2006 No, if it can be taken away, its not a right. the right to vote can be taken away from convicted criminals, voting is still a right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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