Frankly, I will not attend a rally where the American flag is flown. This issue is already dividing the anti-war activists here in Washington.
I don't know where you live, Dennis, but I live in Arlington, VA. A lot of folks from the Middle East here are flying flags on their cars and displaying them on their businesses. They are doing this to protect themselves from red-blooded racist patriots. I find this phenomenon to be revolting. What kind of Orwellian fascist country am I living in where people from another part of the world have to display a symbol so they aren't killed?
There was a country that was like this at one time (although the people wearing the symbol were citizens): Germany.
I'm sorry, but I see no use in flying a flag that represents a white supremacist capitalist patriarchal nation state. And god bless bell hooks.
> Chuck shouldn't do anything that makes his skin crawl, but he should think
> before saying the flag belongs in the trash, especially now. And what is so
> controversial about the flag, anyhow? Many anti-Vietnam war marchers waved
> or carried flags, as did many in the civil rights movement. The flag is part
> of the landscape we presume to reform if not radically change. To ignore
> this, or worse, say it should be destroyed without consulting those who have
> strong ties to it is to essentially say that "the left" is a private club,
> and that average Americans are not welcome unless they leave their flags at
> the door. Dumb. Stupid. Pointless.
Dennis, I really am skeptical that you are an anarchist. For an anarchist, this is a no brainer. Nationalism and fascism are to be fought at every opportunity. Patriotism is a form of mass hysteria that the state uses to reinforce its power.
I just spent several months working with activists who were pandering to middle America. I fought tooth and nail to keep these bastards from watering down the work that I was doing. In the end, they turned tail and started worshipping the flag, just like I told them that they would. The AFL-CIO is the most odious example of this.
Average Americans should leave their flags at home. Unless they want them burned.
Chuck0