Comments on: A Young Marine Speaks Out http://www.ustvmedia.org/what-is-patriotism/2006/12/31/a-young-marine-speaks-out/ Thu, 18 Mar 2010 14:27:41 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.0 by: katie s http://www.ustvmedia.org/what-is-patriotism/2006/12/31/a-young-marine-speaks-out/#comment-10607 Tue, 02 Jan 2007 19:34:18 +0000 http://www.ustvmedia.org/what-is-patriotism/2006/12/31/a-young-marine-speaks-out/#comment-10607 I admire Mr. Martin's insight into our current Iraq nation-building catastrophe. We could only be so fortunate if more people in his position were evaluating their conscious and sharing their opinions instead of blindly standing behind the guise of "following orders." If history repeats itself (as it almost always does), this excuse didn't hold up for the German SS either. The American people need to open their eyes to what is really going on, and say "Enough already!" Empathy, being able to identify and understand another person's feelings and thoughts, is a cognitive phenomena that separates humans from lower species. As Mr. Martin points out, the amnesiac US of A seems to struggle with what we would do (and have done, in case all the patriots have forgotten about the American Revolution) in an analogous situation. If roles were reversed, and these acts of imperialism and state-sponsored terror were occurring on American soil, Americans wouldn't stand for it anymore than the Iraqis are. While we may still consider ourselves homo sapiens, the very base of our humanity appears to be slipping through the flag-waving cracks. I admire Mr. Martin’s insight into our current Iraq nation-building catastrophe. We could only be so fortunate if more people in his position were evaluating their conscious and sharing their opinions instead of blindly standing behind the guise of “following orders.” If history repeats itself (as it almost always does), this excuse didn’t hold up for the German SS either. The American people need to open their eyes to what is really going on, and say “Enough already!”

Empathy, being able to identify and understand another person’s feelings and thoughts, is a cognitive phenomena that separates humans from lower species. As Mr. Martin points out, the amnesiac US of A seems to struggle with what we would do (and have done, in case all the patriots have forgotten about the American Revolution) in an analogous situation. If roles were reversed, and these acts of imperialism and state-sponsored terror were occurring on American soil, Americans wouldn’t stand for it anymore than the Iraqis are. While we may still consider ourselves homo sapiens, the very base of our humanity appears to be slipping through the flag-waving cracks.

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