Funk Babblings

Patriotism - Love for and loyalty to one's country.

Nationalism - the belief in the innate and absolute superiority of one's country.

Imperialism - The act of one country or culture dominating and imposing its will on another.

I consider myself very patriotic in that I wholeheartedly support the U.S. Constitution and defend it when necessary (through discourse, voting, and protests.) This country was founded on the principle that the people are the government, which means I don't have rulers to obey - I am one of the rulers and have a responsibility to keep myself informed and vote responsibly for what is best for the country.

I am not, however, even remotely nationalistic. I love my country because it's mine, not because it's the best in the world. I might even place Canada higher. Nonetheless, I would never leave here. No matter how bad things get (and I think they're getting pretty bad), I have a responsibility to stay and make things better. The biggest danger of nationalism is imperialism, because if you believe that your country is better than all others, that gives you the moral right to invade other countries and force them to your way of thinking. To me, that goes against the spirit of the U.S. constitution, which is grounded in the belief that all human beings have certain inalienable rights (life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness.) This includes people in other countries.

Needless to say, I feel the war in Iraq is imperialistic and morally wrong. (If need be, I'll explain.) Beyond the ethical issues, though, it is also wrong from a pragmatic standpoint. We're wasting resources and our own armed forces in Iraq. These could be put to better use in Afghanistan, here to defend our country if necessary, and even as part of a U.N. peace-keeping force to stop the genocide in the Sudan, where the human rights violations are far worse than they ever were in Iraq.