The state relies on a submissive population, one of its tools to engender this submissiveness is the virus of patriotism. It needs you to feel you owe an allegiance to the state and its flag, so that you can be used as cannon fodder in its many power driven wars. They attempt to create the illusion that the state is there for you, where as they have created a society where, in actual fact, we are there for them. To be used as tools for creating wealth for the few and dying to protect their power, wealth and privileges. Our submissiveness to this arrangement makes us complicit in our own slavery, and in prolonging our world of broken dreams and hollow promises. Our placid acceptance of this hollowed out world is entirely up to us, we have the numbers, the imagination, power and ability to end this insanity and create that better world free from profit, greed and exploitation.
Patriotism
No, I shall not die for the fluttering flag,
if truth be known, ’tis nothing but a multi-coloured rag
held aloft by some foolish hand
inciting worker and peasant to kill
on some green and wooded hill,
peasant and worker from some other land.
Nor shall I shed blood for the fluttering rag
that brings out fools to stand and brag
of brutal deeds painted grand,
deeds where rustic and craftsman lie so still
killed by my brothers' misguided hand.
No allegiance have I for the Nation
this man made autocratic creation
that divides my brothers in a world so small,
binds us to a country's cause, right or wrong,
bids us follow its drum, sing its song,
then sheds our blood in some border brawl.
No, I'll be no slave to flag or nation,
have no ear for power oration,
though its iron heel is on my breast,
my back feels its leather thong,
at patriotism's barracoon, I'll be no guest.
The following extract from the magazine, The Local Kids.
The initial shock of a new war in Europe has provoked the tired argument that an exceptional event merits an exceptional response. Nevertheless, many before us have been confronted with unprecedented events and have found their anarchist position. Anti-patriotism isn’t an unrealistic position: the discussion of taking sides between warring states is deceitful even in its most pragmatic form. War doesn’t turn authoritarians into humanitarians. On the contrary, strategic calculations become more ruthless. A victorious state will not be generous to anti-authoritarians even if they temporarily ally themselves with the armed forces. On the contrary, the state thrives and is emboldened by patriotic fervour. We should refuse the blackmail of kill or be killed but that doesn’t mean that we should march with the opportunists who now claim pacifism. Although the world doesn’t come back as it was before, anarchists do not start from nothing in finding our way through the perennial challenges of our days. Our hearts still beat for direct actions against war mobilization because there’s nothing liberating in being soldiers and fighting their wars.
Take care and greetings to everyone out there taking advantage of the interruptions!
PDF on thelocalkids.noblogs.org
