Flags, Anthems and Pledges

Flags, anthems and pledges

Brainwashing instruments

That restrict freedoms.

Nationalist fascism,

Flaky around the edges,

Warlords and fiefdoms.

Tying us in to allegiance

To forces that exploit our desires.

Strangulating our freedoms

With their economic empires.

Consumer units under control

Slotted into the patriotic hole.

Opher 26.12.2017

As Samuel Johnson said – Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel.

Patriotism, with its entire flag waving tribalism, is nothing more than a fiction to manipulate people by. It comes straight out of its partner nationalism and is the cause of much war and conflict.

Populist politicians use it to gain power. Businessmen harness it to gain profit.

It is visceral not cerebral and it panders to the gut rather than the brain. Many a brave lad full of ideals has been beguiled and used. Many a brave lad has returned with his legs blown off, his mind scrambled and his future in tatters all for the love of a notion of country. To quote the great Wilfred Owen (himself a victim twice over) – The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est Pro patria mori.