"No country in the world does it better than America; no other country rises to the occasion like America, and no people open their arms to those in need like Americans. So if you're dissatisfied with this country, there are 9400 airports here and 197 countries in the world."
---Joe Torillo, 9/11 survivor
Unfortunately for me, I CAN think of several reasons for being "dissatisfied with" America:
--corrupt government and the officials who lead it
--economic mismanagement, which is responsible for creating a lot of tragic situations for individuals who've done nothing to deserve such calamity
--failure to maintain critical infrastructures vital to functionality
--ineffectual educational system producing a populace lacking in even the most basic functional knowledge--- including reading---and who have no sense of historical events, both nationally and world-wise.
--cultural disdain for the arts and good literature
--a dysfunctional cultural environment---including street gangs, drugs, social rank fascsim, exclusionism of the "underclasses"
--dishonest advertising by even reputed companies
--silent discrimination by people toward other "fellow citizens" who simply "don't fit the same mode" they do, either socially, economically, academically, etc.
--disregard for---and to even dispense with---critical regulations of industries involving safety issues, fair business practices, and the responsibilities of those-in-charge
I guess the definition of "patriotism" is to ram Gregorianesque nationalistic rhetoric down everyone's throat and to exploit tragic past events for propaganda purposes.
And to demonize anyone who would "dare" to point out that the U.S. does, indeed, have it's fair share of frailties and foibles---"true patriotism" means never saying anything disparaging about their beloved country, even if what's said does happen to involve demonstrable facts.
Heaven forbid one should get the notion that anyone who truly loves this country might, possibly, be interested in actually fixing whatever may be the matter with it. No...REAL patriots talk it up and "love" it unconditionally---even while the whole damn culture falls apart at the seams right in front of them in plain view.
So...is the ever-sanctimonious Mr. Torillo going to pay for my ticket out of this here U.S.A. as well as provide me a passport so that I may be able to enter "the country of my choice"? ...since I'm obviously a traitor to this country that I, myself, was born-and-raised in. And that I committed an obvious act-of-treason by exclaiming that, in fact, yes there are a number of things about this culture I AM quite dissatisfied about. I don't think the U.S. is perfect, so out I go---I guess.
---Joe Torillo, 9/11 survivor
Unfortunately for me, I CAN think of several reasons for being "dissatisfied with" America:
--corrupt government and the officials who lead it
--economic mismanagement, which is responsible for creating a lot of tragic situations for individuals who've done nothing to deserve such calamity
--failure to maintain critical infrastructures vital to functionality
--ineffectual educational system producing a populace lacking in even the most basic functional knowledge--- including reading---and who have no sense of historical events, both nationally and world-wise.
--cultural disdain for the arts and good literature
--a dysfunctional cultural environment---including street gangs, drugs, social rank fascsim, exclusionism of the "underclasses"
--dishonest advertising by even reputed companies
--silent discrimination by people toward other "fellow citizens" who simply "don't fit the same mode" they do, either socially, economically, academically, etc.
--disregard for---and to even dispense with---critical regulations of industries involving safety issues, fair business practices, and the responsibilities of those-in-charge
I guess the definition of "patriotism" is to ram Gregorianesque nationalistic rhetoric down everyone's throat and to exploit tragic past events for propaganda purposes.
And to demonize anyone who would "dare" to point out that the U.S. does, indeed, have it's fair share of frailties and foibles---"true patriotism" means never saying anything disparaging about their beloved country, even if what's said does happen to involve demonstrable facts.
Heaven forbid one should get the notion that anyone who truly loves this country might, possibly, be interested in actually fixing whatever may be the matter with it. No...REAL patriots talk it up and "love" it unconditionally---even while the whole damn culture falls apart at the seams right in front of them in plain view.
So...is the ever-sanctimonious Mr. Torillo going to pay for my ticket out of this here U.S.A. as well as provide me a passport so that I may be able to enter "the country of my choice"? ...since I'm obviously a traitor to this country that I, myself, was born-and-raised in. And that I committed an obvious act-of-treason by exclaiming that, in fact, yes there are a number of things about this culture I AM quite dissatisfied about. I don't think the U.S. is perfect, so out I go---I guess.
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