Olivant's post just made my IQ drop, so I'm not going to bother responding. I just wish I had learned sooner that your life isn't worth living until you've advocated violence.
Bottom-line is, in regard to the draft, this is, or is supposed to be, a Democracy...
Actually, no it's not. It's a republic. In a democracy, the people would get to vote on every issue. In a republic, the majority elects a representative that they feel will express their views and vote on issues the way that they would. Therefore, you are incorrect, although it's a common error.
Hence my side-commenting that it is "supposed to be." The U.S. was, I think in everyone's mind, originally intended as a Democracy, or something like it, but I don't think it really came into fruition. But on the other hand, I've never viewed the country as a straight Republic either. I think we maintained a decent balance between the two for a while, but if you'd note the voting trends in the bulk of our presidential elections, it is no surprise we've begun leaning in the direction of a more concentrated Republic... But still, I don't think this country has every been more than a mix of political philosophy, which is ultimately great, but leads to some infuriation here and there.
As for the flag, it's a symbol. It's a symbol of the republic for which it stands. You don't pledge allegiance to the FLAG, you pledge your loyalty to what it represents. While I feel that blind allegiance to anyone or anything is just plain wrong, I find it odd that there are those here who proclaim to worship free speech, but who prefer to mock anyone who disagrees with THEM. If you believe in freedoms, they must be for ALL, or you are simply a hypocrite.
I am aware of the position of the flag in society, and I'm not quite sure if you just misread my comments for being completely literal, or what... But what I'm getting at is, I think nationalism is a terrible thing. Absolutely horrible. Anything that a certain
group of people can identify with is eventually going to lead to sectionalism. It's for this reason that I don't take pride in my ethnicity, or my nationality, or the religion I was born into, and so on. Not that I am ashamed of them, but I'd rather just think of us all as people, and not American, or Canadian, or Italian, or Irish, or Spanish, and so on. When you create sectionalism in regards to something that is an unchangeable characteristic of who you are (IE race, nationality, etc), you're just asking for trouble. The only think nationalism has ever provided mankind with is war, and I think we can all agree (excluding Olivant) that war is a pretty shitty thing.
LLC, I know that you seem to be a fan of the various concepts of communism, which surprises me. You also have expressed admiration for individuality. Communism is for the collective. Could you explain your views further? I'd be interested in hearing them.
Sure, I'm more than happy to share them. Basically, I endorse communism as Marx and Engels originally envisioned it. In other words, I am a fan of the communist philosophy, but not so much the communist party. I think that communism could have been a great, great thing... I mean, I am the son of a middle class family, so I am naturally all for economic equality, the elimination of social classes, and so forth. But, human nature makes it impossible for communism to work so long as there is a government, of any sort. Government officials, be they dictators, or elected officials who follow a system of checks and balances, will always become instantaneous members of an upper class. This means the only way communism could ever work would involve the achievement of anarchy, another idea I am rather fond of.
Now, as far as individuality is concerned, I think this all indirectly stems back to the whole "human nature" thing. I think the collective characteristics of communism were sort of a result of all the imposed dictatorships, which eventually lead to censorship and all sorts of nonsense... It wasn't communism that cut off the individual, but the communists. However, I think if capitalism hadn't been so frightened of the idea of a central economy, and the Western world hadn't given Russia the cold shoulder, just
maybe the state of things in Europe wouldn't have gotten as out of control as they did.
Just remember, even Marx had come to resent what communism had become by the time he was on his deathbed.
Anyways, my thoughts are extremely scattered right now, so if you have any more questions, or just plain curiosity regarding my beliefs, feel free to ask.
