July 25, 2009: Air Show, America, and Ambivalence

But in my mind, way at the back, the nagging began. As the annoucer, (who never stopped talking the entire time, a bit of an intrusion) kept mentioning the militaristic characteristics of the various man-birds. Factoids like how many bombs and how many bullets each could deliver in a certain time frame. There was no reluctant pride in these factoids, only patriotic shouting out how much destruction these otherwise beautiful machines could wreak on our (America's) enemies.

In looking around at the crowd, I made snap judgements about which people there were eating up the death and destruction aspect of the planes and helicopters. I wondered if, in the time period immediately following the Vietnam War, if there would have been fewer, and how much the war lust has been amplified by 9/11. With the thoughts of over 4000 American soldiers dying in Iraq and over 700 in Afghanistan(as of this writing) not to mention Iraqis and Afghanis, the thrill-a-minute precision flying lost some of its luster.

Then my thoughts turned to the word "Patriotism". And the phrase "Proud to be an American"

Let me say first and foremost, that I am glad to live in a place where I can write critical musings, and not have fear of governmental interference. But America is far from being the only country where free speech is a right. Perhaps I should say I'm proud to be a free speechian.

Perhaps the "Proud to be an American" falls into the "sea to shining sea" category. So I should be proud of the Grand Canyon and Venice Beach, and the Everglades, and the cities that have grown up around the country. But several Native American Tribes observed that man does not own the earth. That it has been lent to him by the Great Spirit. And exactly why should I take pride in land or water formations that were here before man, and will be long after he is gone.

"Proud to be an American" could relate to the governmental system, the checks and balances sytem that makes the country grow, or stagnate, or slide backwards. But it is hard to be proud of a system that is run by lobbyists, insurance companies, and greedy bankers and industrialists that make elected officials their puppets. On either side of the aisle, a good man or woman is hard to find.

Conservatives and liberals will do anything to further  their agendas, whether it hurts "the people" or not. And the rich prevail. And the poor just wail.

Does "Proud to be an American" relate to our standard of living? Check out the growing disparity of the rich and poor, and the slow strangulation of the middle class. I wonder how many people in dire economic distress would puff out their chests with pride when an air show annoucer says "That Baby can fire 640 rounds per minute".

I didn't start out with this musing to be pessimistic. I am not, by nature particularly pessimistic, or optimistic. I can be either on a given day. But i would truly like to understand what "Proud to be an American" means above and beyond knee jerk flag waving, or honoring wars.

It is time to figure out how to end conflict between peoples. To use intellectual reasoning instead of emotions when dealing with "The Enemy" Life has changed on the planet as transportation and communication have given all nations insights into each other. 9/11 bothered me as much as anyone, but it din't make all Muslims my enemy. But evidently it did cause "America" to participate in the same conflict that destoyed the Soviet Union. The Muslims involved in the conflict are  evidenltly far from stupid. Hopefully the forces employed by the US are bright enough to "know when to hold them, know when to fold them" before the state of our  military/industrial complex becomes just a complex.

If our governmental system can bring understandiing to the world, and end conflicts without body counts, and if the people who live in the US can accept each other and men and women from other countries with understanding instead of vitriol, then I could truly say, "I'm proud to be an American."