How about we just do away with ALL flags?

[Cyrano]

After all, a flag is a piece of cloth that represents a form of tribalism. Today, it has become a form of insanity and a symbol that causes divisiveness.

When a cop or mail carrier walks around with an American flag patch on their uniforms, did some imbecile think we were going to mistake them for being Portuguese or Hungarian public servants?

IMO, the only place the flag has a useful purpose is to distinguish our military people when they are overseas. As a veteran, I don't see myself as having served for a flag, but rather, for what that flag stood for. I don't require a cloth symbol to remind me of the Constitution, or the Declaration of Independence. And I don't need to decorate my car with flags to let my neighbors know that I'm a "real" American.

There was an old comedy bit that Mel Brooks and Carl Reiner used to do called "The Ten Thousand Year Old Man." Brooks is the old man and Reiner is an interviewer. At one point, Brooks says, "... and we invented national anthems too."

Reiner asks, "What did they sound like?"

Brooks says, "Well, mine went like this. (singing) Hooray for cave 73. Fuck everybody else."

To my way of thinking, waving any flag is the equivalent of Mel Brooks' national anthem.

Fire away.

[postulater]

1. Perfect

Thanks for waking me up today with a clear thought.

"Imagine there's no heaven, it's easy if you try."

:toast:

[tanyev]

2. Imagine there's no countries,

It isnt hard to do,
Nothing to kill or die for,
No religion too,
Imagine all the people
living life in peace...

[Deja Q]

19. Lovely song. Pity there's nothing of substance behind the glossy lyrics.

"Living life in peace".

Yes, but what will people do? How will they love? Mope around all day, picking berries?

For better or worse (often worse), religion gave the masses order and structure. It's a psychology thang; it keeps people from "going nuts".

Indeed, anarchy (no religion, nothing to die for, et cetera) might drive people to kill out of boredom. And it'd be legal because there's no law saying it's wrong.

Not that being a dreamer is a bad thing, but I could go around saying "I'm a great ladies' man!" I'll be greeted with rolling eyes and questions of "What makes you say that?"

Kinda hard to prove something you have no experience with despite a base idea... might end up more the fool than the hero.

No direction = stagnation. And that's worse than death, as I have discovered recently...

The issue is not being structureless. It's about having the ideal structure that allows people TO live as individuals without hurting others' freedoms. And we have yet to find it. Lennon was an interesting writer who eventually said his rock band was better than Jesus, and then started dressing like him (hairstyle and all) after taking mind-altering substances.

[tanyev]

20. It's just a song, not a manifesto.

[misternormal]

3. No flame from me, friend...

... I agree with everything you said...

I served in the military to protect the ideal that the flag stands for... The ideal will remain, flag or no.

[BlackHeart]

4. So how come you have

an icon of the Eiffel Tower? What does that mean?

[mondo joe]

6. It means we can all have towers, but not flags.

:eyes:

I'm going with the Space Needle myself!

[Cyrano]

8. Thanks, mondo joe. Good answer.

[mondo joe]

9. Now how about getting rid of Avatars?

What do you think of that?

[Cyrano]

15. Nah. I love your Avatar -- Ripley as Rambo.

[BlackHeart]

12. So if you burn up

a picture of my tower I can get pissed at you?

[exlrrp]

5. I like Brooks's anthem!!

Hooray for me and fuck you!!
it says everything an anthem needs to say

[seg4527]

7. it's sad, but people really can't handle flags

i mean, you could burn the black flag all day, and i wouldn't shed a tear.

a flag is a flag. if your patriotism has devolved into becoming outraged over a piece of cloth, you've really got to ask yourselves some questions.

[Fuzz]

10. Bill Hicks

and I'm paraphrasing from memory, so . . .

I fucking hate patriotism, can't stand it. It's a round world last time I checked.

No one… I repeat, no one ever died for a flag. They may have died for freedom, which, by the way, includes… the freedom… to burn the fucking flag.

Patriotism. For what? Just because your parents fucked somewhere? I was trying to tell my parents, fuck in France, c'mon. You know what the flag should be? A picture of your mom's fat ass bent over and your father behind her pounding away. Let's see if we can all rally around that one.

[BlackHeart]

16. Wow!

That was weird. Do you spend a lot of time thinking about your parents fucking?

[Fuzz]

17. Um, no. Was a Bill Hicks quote, a fabulous comedian

who died in 94. Find some of his stuff and buy it.

[BlackHeart]

24. Oops!

Sorry!

[KittyWampus]

11. Let's get rid of Symbols? You can't dispense with valuable tools

just because some mishandle them. We're humans with opposable thumbs and higher brain functions.

Nature designed us to discover tools and use them. The trick is for us to use them WISELY.

Be careful saying "let's get rid of X" because some people misuse whatever X is.

The Alphabet's letters are Symbols as well as flags... shall we get rid of them too?

[gratuitous]

13. Pop by the Church of the Brethren some time

No flags in most sanctuaries, which I find really nice. And sometimes we sing:

This is my home, a country where my heart is
Here grew my hopes and dreams for humankind
But other hearts in other lands are beating
With hopes and dreams as true and high as mine

My country's skies are bluer than the ocean
And sunlight shines on clover leaf and pine
But other lands have sunlight too and clover
And skies are ev'rywhere as blue as mine
O hear my prayer, O God of all the nations
A song of peace for their lands and for mine

[Bill McBlueState]

18. that's a good one

Great melody, too.

I've noticed that the more progressive Protestant churches have moved away from having flags in the sanctuary.

[Deja Q]

14. Corporations are doing that via offshoring.

The trouble is, they forgot to change the world's governments in the process. Greed has a blinding effect on people...

And that's going to lead to some problems... :dunce:


(well, they have the USA government backing them... but the world isn't keen on that either, how odd!)

[shance]

21. Not a bad idea.....or use them to unify somehow instead of divide.

The question is how*

Some of the flags are very pretty. Maybe we can all rotate them around. :)

[mopinko]

22. imagine

eom

[The Straight Story]

23. How about a flag that says "Say no to flags"

And we could fly that :)

I think flags are just fine though as they can sum up a history quickly. It is a reminder that we are a country who has lost many lives to keep it free. Does that make one swell with nationalism, or instead a sense of duty to fight the good fight against the tyrants that are brewing in DC?

It is a reminder of who we should be, it reminds us that freedom is not given, it is fought for and taken. I wish a few more Dems in power would step up and put for more effort like so many on this board have done.

I would not burn my flag, hang it odd ways, etc - I fly it in their face to remind them we have taken tyrants to the trash bin of history before and we will do it again.

So I guess it all depends not on who flies the flag, but one who sees it and makes assumptions about the person flying it that is too prevalent.

In this case then the confederate flag is more understandable - it could be seen as a rebellion against those in power. We rebel against bush and crew, so that would be a flag that could represent that (though others seeing it will interject what they want it to mean).

[Beelzebud]

25. It was a round planet the last time i checked. --Bill Hicks

"My daddy died for that flag in Korea."

"Well gee, thats funny. Because my flag says it was MADE in Korea"

--Bill Hicks

[1620rock]

26. I burned the fucking thing upside down and now fly a peace...

symbol.