Love for one’s country often requires criticizing the statements and behavior of politicians or powerful business leaders, and it also often requires dissent and disobedience to the policies of political parties or particular politicians. —-Love for country is dedication to principles, not obedience to those in power. —–As Jefferson and other founders asserted, “we the people” give government its power thru our consent, so long as government keeps its part of the deal. —–If government no longer serves the will of the common people, we then have the right (or the patriotic duty) to change or overthrow that government. —-This arrangement is termed the ‘social contract’ in political philosophy. —-It’s unpatriotic to assume those who don’t share your political views hate America. —-History shows, it’s often the case that those abusing their power do so by wrapping themselves in the flag and invoking God and labeling as unpatriotic or traiters anyone calling attention to their corruption. —-Many of the rights you enjoy today as a worker were fought for by people in the labor movement whom government and business leaders labelled as unpatriotic. —-Patriotism is often hijacked by those in power. As Samuel Johnson said it, “Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundel.”
…And if big corporate money influence over our government increasingly detracts from the will of “we the people” being carried out, what then does patriotism require of us? —-Is patriotism following leaders who rile us up to hate millions of our fellow Americans? —–Is it patriotic to allow oneself to be manipulated by propaganda (some of it from foreign governments) placed in social media and designed to polarize our country and undermine our participation in the political process? —-Sincerely
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