patriotism as conscription

[kael]

i personally believe that the concept of patriotism is a mask to conscription.
first i must state that i am not american, and so do not come across such levels of patriotism in day-to-day life, but i have witnessed and experienced it.
patriotism to a country means in general terms that someone is loyal to their country, to the extremes of fighting wars and even dying for their country. now governments need loyal soldiers in their armies, and so ofcourse promote patriotism. but by promoting it, are they not encouraging youths to die for their country.
indeed i realise that it is not conscription of such extremities as boys of certain ages having to sign up. but when someone states they are patriotic, have they not been conscripted to fight if the occasion arises, maybe not on paper but morally.

i would be interested to hear your opinions on the subject. i should however state that i am only 15 and living in a relatively liberal england (debatable ofcourse) and have not experienced life enough. but my friend is joining the army soon and is willing to die for his country, and he calls this patriotism.

[Delta]

You are right, patriotism is a horrible thing. I wrote about it earlier this year on my blog here (http://freethoughtweekly.blogspot.com/2006/02/church-of-patriotism.html) comparing it to religion.

[MrDoom]

Yeah, it annoys the hell out of me. A nation is nothing more than an imaginary line on a map, a literal "division and conquering". Not something I'd die for any day.

I myself group it with religion and reality TV as the modern opiates of the people.

[RedAnarchist]

Patriotism is a very powerful tool in certain hands. It can divide the workers and can cripple movements such as ours, especially in times when the government and media are feeding the population a 24/7 diet of "terrorists" and "threats".

Patriotism is something we must avoid on the Left at all times.We are internationlists, something which is opposite to patriotism.

[kael]

thanks for your posts. out of curiosity, how could i show the evils of patriotism to my friend. he's certain he's doing the right thing by fighting wars. as a product of this, he has been taken in by these constant news reports and wants to get out to iraq and kill them, even though it is the american government in the wrong.