No such thing as an anti american

Published on October 19, 2004 By Solitair In Philosophy

You can't be anti-american. No one really can.

America is made up of it parts and so long as someone loves a single part then they cannot hate the whole.

Someone can happily hate Bush, hate the Us foreign policy, hate US tax laws, hate their stupid US neighbours, hate the US flag, ahte the US language, hate hollywood, hate McDonalds, but so long as they still love that single US friend, they cannot hate America. For that friend represents America.

To accuse someone of being anti American is to find fault in yourself, not in them. It's to admit that you suffer from an inferiority complex. That you can't take critism. It's to admit that you don't understand their position. It's to admit that you don't understand that they dislike aspects of America, not America.

Likewise to claim to be anti America is also to find fault with yourself. To admit that you don't recognise the good aspects of America. To admit that you have failed to look for those aspects. To admit that you are narrow minded and cannot seperate the aspect you hate from the entirity that is America.

Lets stop labelling people as anti-american and start discussing the actual aspects of America they dislike.

Paul.

Comments (Page 1)

Gene Nash

on Oct 19, 2004

So Osama Bin Laden isn't anti-American?

thatoneguyinslc

on Oct 19, 2004

Gene...I think Sol means citizens of the US.

T_Bone4Justice

on Oct 19, 2004

Excellent article Paul! I agree that people should stop mistaking criticism with anti-Americanism. Such rhetoric is only meant to quiet dissent and political debate. If someone doesn't understand that, then they simply do not fully understand what being a patriot or loving your country is really all about.

JillUser

on Oct 19, 2004

Bull flop! Are you American Paul? There are plenty of Americans that are anti-American. Any American, and there are plenty of them, who says they are embarrassed to be American, is anti-American. Using the word hate over and over again really sets me off. You can disagree and do something about it and be pro-American. If you are just hating, sitting around bitching about what you hate, then you are anti-American.

Pro-American means being truly for freedom of speech, religion, and the pursuit of happiness. It doesn't mean you have the right to entitlements or the right to threaten those who disagree with you. It doesn't mean going to foreign countries and crapping on your leaders from afar (that's right, I think the Dixie Chicks were anti-American in thier actions).

I don't hate people who do these things. I just don't believe they embody Americanism.

dharmagrl

on Oct 19, 2004

Any American, and there are plenty of them, who says they are embarrassed to be American, is anti-American.

Jill makes a good point....

xtine

on Oct 19, 2004

My mother embarrasses me all the time. Sometimes even mortified. But I'm still her daughter.

I love my country. I don't always agree with my government. I am American.

Myrrander

on Oct 19, 2004

Even though I just wrote an article about how I'm tired of being accused of being anti-American, I think you could find plenty of people in this country who would admit -- and even be proud -- of being anti-American.

Bull flop!

I nearly sprayed iced tea out my nose, girl! hee heeeeee!

JillUser

on Oct 19, 2004

nearly sprayed iced tea out my nose, girl! hee heeeeee

Then my work here is done

Solitair

on Oct 20, 2004

I disagree that people who are embarrassed with being American are anti american. If you look at the second last paragraph on my article you'll see that I believe anyone who calls themselves anti american is failing in their ability to seperate the part from the whole. I honestly believe that there is no-one in the US that cannot find some aspect of their country or society of culture that they love. All it takes is a single issue to love about America to stop you from being anti-american. Wantiong to change almost everything about your country is not anti american so long as you still love that country.

The important question is WHY. Why does something think they are embarrassed of America. Are they embarrassed by their neighbours, embarrassed by their countries great achievements, embarrassed by the beauty of their land, embarrassed by the wonderful things they have built? No of course not. Could you see any American showing a foreigner the Grand Canyon and saying I'm so embarrassed of this? Or showing a foreigner the lunar landing module and saying I'm so embarrassed of this? No.

The problem is not with America. The problem is with these people. They need to start finding aspects of america to be proud of and realise that they are proud of those aspects. Then they can focus on changing what aspects they are embarrassed of without the baggage of feeling ambarrassed by America as a whole.

You can't be anti-American , only narrow minded.

paul.

Texas Wahine

on Oct 20, 2004

This is an interesting article, Solitair.

I tend to agree with you on this. Constantly labeling people anti-American seems silly. I love the US and am a proud American, but there are things in America that I do not like and want to see changed. My dissent is caused my love of my country and my desire for change for the betterment of our nation. I think speaking out and calling for change when we see something that we feel is harmful to our nation is a patriotic thing to do.

Eastern Diamondback

on Oct 20, 2004

Absolute non-sense. Can't a man who watches basketball still be anti-black?

People who see America as the Great Satan of the World, and a barrier to their lunacies are anti-American. The idea that dissent in and of itself is patriotic is a fallacy. NAMBLA is not a patriotic organization simply because they dissent from the mainstream view that men shouldn't be raping little boys. This issue is no longer theoretical. People actually exist who abhor the founding principles of this country, such as the rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, or representative government. Many people call for forced collectivization and redistribution, or forced equality of result. Or the violent implementation of Sharia law. Those stand diamterically opposed to American values. That is the kind of rhetoric you hear from International ANSWER and their Marxist brethren, or their newly found Islamo-fascist allies. If by "betterment of our nation" you mean the above, then you are anti-American and, if you are an American yourself, un-American. America is more than just the land within its borders. The communists weren't bering germanophilic when they desired to see a Marxist empire beginning on the Rhine and the North Sea and stretching to the Pacific.

So yes, it is very easy for one to be anti-American.

Texas Wahine

on Oct 20, 2004

The idea that dissent in and of itself is patriotic is a fallacy.

Dissent in and of itself is not patriotic . . . dissent that works to bring about positive change is. If you'll read my comments, you'll see that that is what I am advocating.

NAMBLA is not a patriotic organization simply because they dissent from the mainstream view that men shouldn't be raping little boys.

What does NAMBLA have to do with anything?

If by "betterment of our nation" you mean the above, then you are anti-American and, if you are an American yourself, un-American.

Where, in what I wrote, did you see anything even remotely similar to your rant about Islamo-fascism or any other such nonsense?

Solitair

on Oct 20, 2004

Eastern Diamondback,
I don't for a second suggest that there are not people out there who detest much of what America stands for. But I stick to my arguement that they are not anti American just against aspects of american life. They are being narrow minded. The problem is not with an America they hate but with their inability to clarify what it is they actualyl hate. I have no problems with someone telling me that they hate what they see as American imperial foreign policy. I do however poke fun at them if they then try to claim they hate America. Hate Levi jeans, hate Hollywood films, hate Walt Disney. No the truth of the matter is that they don't, they're just being narrow minded and theatrical.

What is wrong however with an American wanting the US to be a communism country. What is wrong with them loving the country they live in but wanting to change the political system to share the wealth? Just because you and the vast majority of Americans may not agree with it does not make that desire anti-American. It just means that someone has a different philosophy and being able to peacefully champion their cause is a fundamental American right.

Paul.

JillUser

on Oct 20, 2004

You can't be anti-American

Again, are you saying Osama Bin Laden is not anti-American but merely narrow minded?

JillUser

on Oct 20, 2004

What is wrong however with an American wanting the US to be a communism country

Because communism is not American. America is based on freedom, liberty and capitalism. Yikes! If someone wants a communist country, they should seek citizenship somewhere other than the US.

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