Jefferson said it best "dissent is the highest form of patriotism". The OP should ask himself what "American" means. American culture is highly unique in that we are one of the most heterogeneous states in the world. The fact that we are a nation of immigrants is a large part of our identity. Can one be an italian-american or only american, or only italian? Never the same at once? Also, whoever said that America was "discovered" by italians needs to ask themselves whether land can truly be discovered when it is already inhabited... Duhhhhhh
No it was "discovered" in the fact the entire Europe/African/Asian continents at the time had no idea it existed, and considering all nations in the Americas owe their existence and a good deal of their people to European colonization, I would say was in fact discovered.
True story, but is it really any different than every other place on Earth Europeans pillaged simply because they had bigger guns.(or in this case of the Americas, the only guns)
every history is different, but . . . does the fact that europeans pillaged elsewhere [most notably, africa] make any of it okay? so here i sit, a citizen of this despoiled land, with enough shame in being an amerikkkan to keep me from adding to anyone's misery [i hope]
So the thread is called "Lack of patriotism makes me sick"... but you're irked by people's patriotism? You don't have to have been to a country to be proud of your heritage or to know the culture. They could easily have been raised in a very Italian household. You don't know anything about them, at all. Or perhaps they wave the flag because they believe in what it represents. In the specific case of Italians I couldn't speculate because I've never been there and I've only ever met one Italian. Isn't introducing new(new to you at least) ideas to improve your country patriotic? Seeing as America's past is entirely made up of a collage of European history an Italian flag really is just a part of your own history. Isn't this patriotism? Your argument sounds like the kind of knee jerk reaction I've come to expect of blind flag waving Americans(I suspect like you) who run around screaming "America is the best country in the world! Land of the free! Land of opportunity!". All delusions. Baseless delusions.... Éireann go Bragh
No, but seriously, it's almost 500 years in the past, let's make amends, make up for it to the natives, and move on. It really is stupid to keep bringing it up considering how long ago it was, I mean the nations that fought each other often don't even exist politically anymore, not just on the native side but on the European side too. I mean how useful is it to bring up past terrible deeds to make the future better? It's just a red herring. I mean at the same time the Spanish were laying waste to Tenochtitlan, they were also trying to brutally suppress the Dutch lands that at the time were part of the Hapsburg crown. I mean if we're going to keep bringing up terrible deeds from the past, what about the Aztec's deeds, remember the Spanish only had about 1,000 men and 20 cannons for the siege, what they did else have however though was 150,000-200,000 native allies on their side who joined them because the Aztecs in their empire were fucking brutal/quasi genocidal. What we should be doing is making amends for the treaties we broke in the 19th century, since those were treaties signed by existing and coherent states in which the United States frequently broke with no regard for the law they themselves had made using their established federal military. *edit* The point I'm getting at, is near every country has done terrible things in their past.
Pride is a sin and patriotism is self-delusional shit. They're excuses to display angry selfish exclusionary sentiment.
Well yes but I think all countries have calmed down quite a bit since the 19th and early 20th centuries.
I dunno, I'd say with a lack of an industrial infrastructure and the resulting logistical problems of transporting supplies, the necessity of having to create a government and military structure from scratch, an almost non-existent navy and sea-faring mercantile system, attempting to persuade soldiers who saw themselves as citizens of their respective states rather than the Confederacy to fight together as a collective, and being woefully outnumbered, it seems like they put up quite a close fight. At the very least, after 4 years and 618,000 dead on both sides, surely we can say the war wasn't so one sided that someone suffered the injustice of having "their asses handed to them".
Even though the union won the civil war, given the disadvantages the south faced it is pretty clear that the union basically won in the same way the Soviets won WW2, massive overwhelming manpower and industrial output. Take Grant for example, it's not that he was a great general, it's just he realized that as long as he kept up pressure until a breakthrough happened he'd win since he could lose many more troops than the confederates could and could also use as much ammo and artillery as he wanted.
Attrition warfare is kind of shocking when you realize that often it's deliberately used. From the soldier's perspective, it's the very definition of being used as cannon fodder. Technically, I've personally always viewed it's employment as the sign of a very poor general, but then again I'm no military strategist. On that note, I've always been able to appreciate the irony of the South trying to win by playing a defensive battle until popular opinion for the war in the North reached a breaking point, much like how the colonies won the Revolutionary War.
I really have no problem with people flying their flags or being patriotic. That is not my type of thing, but who cares what the masses do. I love my country profoundly. The people and places will always be in my heart. But the government is a legion of demons with their own agenda's. Those agenda's do not work for me. The government is not your friend.
I can't say that I've ever been bothered by flags on cars. I see nothing wrong with having the flag of Scotland on my car since that is my heritage and I am proud of it. That doesn't mean I'm not happy to be American. Just because you live in one country doesn't mean you can't be patriotic about your roots. That is actually part of America's culture is that almost all of us were recently from somewhere else. And someday when I can, I plan on moving to Scotland anyway.