Face-Punched

Face-Punched

I see the nationalists are out in force these days, posting memes on social media that bluntly state that if you desecrate the American flag, you will be face-punched. These folks, who would take such extreme steps in opposition to Americans expressing their freedom of speech, are not patriots.

They are nationalists.

The 199th Personnel Service Co.

There is much confusion over what constitutes a patriot and how that differs from being a nationalist. Succinctly put, a patriot supports his country, but recognizes that it is not perfect. A nationalist supports his country to the extreme, believing it can do no wrong, ever, and feels threatened by those who dis on his country.

A patriot would witness the flag being burned, and recognize that in a country where personal freedom is paramount, this desecrator is merely exercising freedom of speech. A nationalist would spring to the defense of the flag, and punch the desecrator in the face, no questions asked.

I am a patriot and not just because I spent two years in the military. I am a patriot because I believe my country is founded on principles that in theory make everyone equal, even if my country has temporarily forgotten about the fifty million who live at or below the poverty level.

I feel comfortable criticizing the government for its lack of compassion for the common man. The current system heavily favors the wealthy, and continues to hammer the working man into an existence, not that far removed from what originally constituted slavery.

This is patently wrong and our government should hide its head in sorrow.

If you object to my criticism of the government, or you fume when I support individuals’ rights to desecrate the flag, you have taken yourself out of the ranks of the patriots, and entered those of the nationalists. You believe that the good ole U. S. of A. can do no wrong.

You support the notion that we should speak softly but carry a big stick, and that if some other pesky nation gets in the way, we should just smack it upside the head, kind of what we did to the native peoples of this land.

Actually, it is exactly what we did to the native peoples of this land.

See, a patriot recognizes that his country can make mistakes; a nationalist refuses to acknowledge this. A nationalist believes that Manifest Destiny is and was the right ticket, whereas the patriot observes with great interest what is happening in North Dakota right now, with the Dakota Access Pipeline.

A patriot roots for people who are fighting for their land and their cultural heritage; a nationalist roots for Big Oil because that is what makes America great.

If you feel so strongly about your country, that you would step up and defend it by punching someone in the nose for desecrating an American flag, just recognize that doing so does not make you a patriot, it makes you a nationalist.