GIVING A TASTE OF TRUE PATRIOTISM

4/6/2006 the original can be viewed at http://spaces.msn.com/paganismtoday/blog a very thought-provoking blog! Kudos to the writer of the essay below.

Giving a Taste of True Patriotism


Ok, for all of you sheep out there who feel that true patriotism is nodding your head and agreeing with everything the government says... here is what true patriotism is.


Patriotism is supporting the best interests of your country, even if (or possibly more accurately, especially if) those interests conflict with the way the government is being run.


Take a look at the United States of America.

At the moment, our government is spending billions of dollars each year, has a deficit of over 8 trillion dollars and climbing (this is not including the over 300 billion dollars in interest per year being paid on this deficit), and is taxing many people nearly into poverty. And yet our public schools are suffering, our military is not the best it can or should be, there are many people on welfare who do not need it, and many others who could use it and have no access to it, our rights are being taken away in an effort to make our country "more secure", etcetera, etcetera , etcetera. And that is just because of how poorly our government is spending the taxes it generates each year.

Our military is suffering the effects of bad politics. Many of those in Iraq and Afghanistan do not have appropriate body armor. They are not trained to handle some of the incidents which they face on a daily basis, such as bombings, insurgents, and basically guerrilla warfare. There are those in the government who insist that we set a timetable, and publicize it, which would give our enemies access to t, thus creating an opportunity for them to bide their time until we move out, get themselves gradually back into power, and create the same problem we had before, only with an even better reason to attack us.

One right that sticks out in my head that has been continuously limited, and been coming closer to being taken away each time, is that of the right to keep and bear arms. Now this right is given in the constitution, to enable the average ordinary person to protect themselves, their town, their state, and their country. Think of it this way, if the hijackers from 9/11/2001 had known there was a possibility that even one person on one of those planes may have been carrying a gun, would they have been stupid enough to even try it? I honestly don't think so. Why not? Well, their purpose was to cause mass destruction, loss of life, and terror. If they would have been the only ones dead, and/or would have had the possibility of being taken alive, they would not have been able to accomplish those goals... right?

Another good example of this is the limits set on who can own a gun. More homes would be protected if there were not such harsh laws against gun ownership. Why? Well, the average citizen goes to a gun shop, tries to get a gun to be able to protect their family, they go through two or more weeks of waiting, then finally are able to get some piddling little creation, which may possibly break the skin... if you're close enough to the person. However, the criminal element will go to a black market dealer and get a gun instantly, which can kill an elephant at fifty yards. Now, which one would be dead first, you, or the one trying to get into your house and rape your wife, shoot your kids, and steal your valuables. Now, if the average ordinary person, could do the same as that criminal, legally, don't you think there might be a little better of a chance for your family to live through any such ordeal, muggings would decrease, break-ins would decrease, most violent, and nonviolent crimes would decrease, simply because those who would commit them would know that there was a distinct possibility that the proposed victim had a better weapon than theirs, and possibly better training, more accuracy, etc.

What of the public schools? Teachers do not know how to teach. It is almost that simple. They are taught only one method of teaching, and instead of being able to create curriculum which is geared toward their students, they create a curriculum geared toward "national averages". These national averages cannot work on any given individual child, nor on any given group of students, simply because of the fact that this "average Joe, Jr." is just as nonexistent as his parent "average Joe". No two children are exactly alike, each child is an individual, needing different methods of learning, sometimes for different subjects, as well as different lengths of time to be able to learn things. By using this "average Joe, Jr." as the basis for teaching curriculum, we leave out those children who learn faster, those who learn slower, and those who simply learn differently. Children get frustrated thinking that it is their fault that they cannot learn the material, parents get frustrated because their children are not learning the material, and teachers sit there raking in their average of 40000 dollars a year plus benefits plus retirement plus 16 weeks per year of vacation plus 2 months per year of unemployment benefits, and not giving a damn whether or not the kids are actually learning.

I realize that that is a bit harsh, but when you consider the drastic increase in the number of learning deficiencies, learning disabilities, and mental diseases diagnosed in children each year, combined with the fact that the average public school teacher makes not only more than the average non teacher, but also more than the average private school or catholic school teacher, it kind of makes you wonder. And apparently some states think that the teachers really do not know how to teach, such as New York, which has recently mandated a six year term of college for public school teachers, instead of the four they used to have to attend, this is not including the mandatory continued learning they must undergo. Why raise the minimum number of years of college, if the teachers knew how to teach in the first place? Well, it is because they didn't, and i do not believe that this will help them. If public school teachers earned the average income for the area they were teaching in, or at most slightly more than that average (say ten percent more), then there would be a sharp increase in educational standards, because only those who truly wished to teach, not just get the nice money, and the great benefits, would be doing it in the first place. The school systems are seriously lacking as well, but I think I will save that for a later date.

Welfare is another huge problem. Our national budget is taken up more with "social programs" than any other form of spending. I cannot say that they are not a great thing, for those who need them. But there are many on them who do not need to be on them, and refusing to come away from them, because they are given no reason to. There are also many who really need them, and are denied access to them. There very few people in this country who absolutely cannot do anything to earn money. Even those who are truly retarded, can and do have jobs. Even as a stay at home parent, there are jobs one can do, using the internet, making and selling crafts, at fairs, and flea markets, and through mail order, there are many opportunities, one just has to look for them.

On to our prisons. I really have no clue how much money is put into the prisons each year, but even without that figure, I can tell you it is way too much. Consider this, the average American citizen may have access to a computer and to internet, may be able to find a library with current up to date research-able information, including laws, and other topics of interest, they may have access to cable television, they may have enough food on the table to feed their family, they may be able to keep a roof over their heads, power and heat in their homes, etc, but then again they may not.

Inmates in our prisons have cable television, computers with internet, more extensive libraries than some colleges, they have three meals a day plus snacks, they do not go without a roof over their heads, electricity, or heat, at any time while incarcerated, they get free medical care, free psychiatric counselling, and basically anything most of us pay hundreds and thousands of dollars each month for.... They get all of this for free, without being required to work for any of it, in most cases.

wonder, could it be possible that better housing conditions, more "fun" activities (did i forget about weight rooms, and sports fields and equipment, and the like), and better food than they could possibly afford out of jail, might tempt some of these people to commit crimes, just to get in there so they can live damn near in the lap of luxury, for free. Oh yeah, i forgot, there are people that will actually tell you that that is exactly why they commit their crimes.

Overall, this is just the tip of the iceberg. There are many more areas which need to be reformed, and as I figure out exactly how each would probably best be done, i will let you know. Until then this is your friendly neighborhood pagan, signing off.
[QUOTED FROM IN ITS' ENTIRELY]



THOUGHTS OF sapphoq:
Great blog here tho' I wonder about a few of the issues.

Masters' level teachers already are making a bit less than what ppl with Masters' degrees can earn in other fields. I have heard the opposite arguement of the one you present here-- that if we pay teachers MORE in addition to raising the base of knowledge that teachers must have, then the education field will attract brighter people. The truth is sometimes in between these sorts of arguements and I think there may be more factors here than salary and teacher prep.

Public school teachers usually earn more money than their private school and religious school counterparts because they have state mandates that they must meet. It is a common practice-- in this neck of the woods anyways, upstate New York-- for religious schools and private schools to hire teachers that are actually less qualified than the teachers in public schools.. New York State has had a requirement that teachers earn their Master's degrees within five years of beginning to teach here since at least 1985 and probably some years before then. Has that requirement changed recently?

Some? Many? public schools certainly leave much to be desired in terms of atmosphere and preparation for the modern world. Throwing money at charter schools, religious schools [which are then allowed to discriminate in hiring on the basis of religious beliefs with MY pagan tax money], and private schools is not "the answer." I know you didn't specifically address this particular issue however I do think it is an important point to raise. Throwing money at any school system in order to "fix it" and "teaching to the test" are two practices which plainly do not work. I would propose that allowing school vouchers to be used for [major denominational only] religious schools IS a violation of the separation of church and state which our deist founders worked hard to craft into our constitution.

The president openly admitted during his campaign that he does not concern himself with the votes of american citizens who are atheist or non-theist. He went on to state that american citizens who do not have a [major denomination?] religion are not patriotic or even real citizens in his view. More info about this can be found at http://www.au.org/ and at http://sapphoq.com/ . As you have probably guessed by now, I am no lover of our current president and his bias for the churched, the straights, and the rich.

What absolutely terrifies me is the thought that the president may yet order the bombing of Iran with nuclear weapons. Now we have "the war against terror." I am beginning to believe that perhaps the Untied States may yet prove out to be one of the largest terrorists thanks to our government in Washington D.C. which is approaching fascism. We also have "the war against sex, non-heterosexual orientations, and drugs." Before these wars, there was McCarthyism in the fifties and the "war against communism."

I worked in a prison briefly and I have known several corrections officers as friends. Each one of them has told me the same thing-- the guards do not want cable television taken away from the prisoners because it helps to keep order! I have eaten the prison food. It was not good. Dental care in a prison is usually such that it is better to allow one's teeth to rot and fall out than to be subjected to the drill. Medical care is a bit better in quality however surgery is equivalent to being subjected to a hacksaw. Again, many prisoners avoid prison dentistry and surgery if at all possible to do so.

The mental health care in many prisons is also pathetic. The "solution" in some places is to house the mentally ill in the SHU; or the Special Housing Unit. Twenty-three hours a day in a cell. A psychiatrist must check on each mentally ill prisoner in solitary confinement [those who are in call it "the Hole"] once a day. That "check" is usually a bit of conversation lasting five minutes or less. The exchange occurs with the state's psychiatrist standing in the hallway and the prisoner behind a celldoor shouting through a flap.

Only recently is this picture changing. Some prisons now have transitional housing units. Mentally ill prisoners who agree to take their anti-psychotics and show other evidence of possibly benefiting from a day program type treatment may be moved to a transitional housing unit. There the prisoners work on achieving levels and the goal is increased interaction with the general population until they are able to withstand the pressures of ordinary prison life. Some of the prisoners are not able to do it and so day programs for the chronically mentally ill become part of the treatment plan when their sentences are up.

Some of the "fun activities" that abound in prisons include brutal gang rapes and violence directed towards prisoners who are perceived to be more vulnerable or weaker. The stereotype about prison showers being dangerous places due to the possibility of gang rape has a large measure of truth to it.

Prisoner abuse is not limited to prisoners beating upon each other. I have seen with my own eyes the results when male prison guards impregnate women prisoners. Not all of those women traded sex for cigarettes. It is highly illegal for any prison guard to engage in any sexual activity with prisoners-- "consentual" or for trade or outright rape.

I am no bleeding-heart liberal. Prisons are necessary and probably always will be. While I recognize that prisons do fall short of the ideal of rehabilitation of the prisoners back into society as productive and law-abiding citizens, I also know that society itself demands retribution for crime. Retribution does include removal from the society where prisoners have proven that their behavior treads on the rights of their fellows.

I myself am currently not working due to complications from a brain injury which I received at the hands of a pot-smoking driver who felt compelled to run my vehicle into a house, leaving a hole in the foundation. I have some years behind me of working with people who are considered by society to be developmentally delayed [the newer term for "retarded" but which also includes folks with autism, aspergers', cerebral palsy, and brain injuries received before the age of 18 or 21 depending upon which state one happens to abide in, and a few other disability labels]. I am not picking on your use of an "older" word. When I went to school, people who are severely retarded or severely developmentally delayed were called "imbecile."

Folks who are labeled as developmentally disabled or retarded along with some other unfortunates are pushed into "working" at sheltered workshops. The most common "work" available at sheltered workshops is piece-rate and that means that many of the "consumers" or "trainees" [they are not technically considered to be "employees"] are "working" at FAR BELOW THE MINIMUM WAGE. And it is legal. Some of the folks who are taken advantage of by sheltered workshops bring home checks amounting to one or two dollars. If one is extremely lucky, one is able to "earn" twenty-five, fifty, or [very rarely] seventy-five bucks for a week's "work." My acquaintance Dan Wilkins who is associated with the organization ADAPT has much to say about some of the issues confronting us as disabled people. His internet store is called thenthdegree and his url is http://www.thenthdegree.com/. He writes essays for his site. They are worth checking out. I had the pleasure of hearing him speak at a conference once on disability culture.

The "jobs" that many people with disabilities are forced to "work at" by state agencies such as VESID here in New York State [OVR or BVR in other states] are not jobs as we know it. Unfortunately, VESID is very polished at dealing with consumers who conform. VESID's forte does not lay in dealing with people who have their own ideas and who are self-directed. Those who speak up for what they want and need are labeled as non-compliant.

It takes imagination and commitment to locate meaningful employment within the community for disabled people. It takes effort to coach disabled people in their places of employment, to teach self-advocacy, to demonstrate how to use natural supports at work instead of relying upon the professionals. It takes time to educate a society that is xenophobic.
So let us both make a beginning with each other at some honest dialogue. Write to me if you like. I'm willing to bet that what unites us will be far stronger than what tears us apart.

~sapphoq