Don't Worship the Federal Flag

As I was driving home from work early this morning, a reporter on the radio was announcing that Syria had crossed a "red line" and that Barack Obama has decided that we should (overtly) send weapons to the men who are doing battle with the Assad regime. I looked out the window and saw American flags lining Main Street. My blood began to boil. As the federal government dives into yet another armed conflict in the Middle East, another regional dispute that's outcome has no bearing on the typical American's life, our cities and towns are celebrating that government by displaying its star spangled banner with pride.

Once upon a time, I adored that flag. I had been taught to pledge my allegiance to that flag as a child. It stood for freedom and capitalism and general awesomeness. As far as I was concerned, the good guys carried that flag and everyone else was inferior if not evil. But now I see it for what it really is. It is nothing more than the logo of the empire and, since September 11th 2001, has come to be nearly ubiquitously associated with support for the empire's wars. It has also been transformed into a sort of religious symbol. We are told not to desecrate it. We are expected to stand with our hands over our hearts and face it as the federal anthem plays.Why on earth would we ever want to worship this symbol of our tyrannical federal government?

Perhaps you don't find the federal government to be particularly tyrannical. Perhaps you don't mind universal warrantless searches of phone records and email accounts. Perhaps you don't mind the IRS targeting political dissidents (political dissident being defined as someone who promotes the Constitution). Perhaps you don't mind the enormous tax burden they place on your shoulders. Perhaps you don't mind that they borrow money on your credit (the promise to tax you even more) and won't be able to pay it all back. Perhaps you don't mind them groping your genitals at the airport, dropping bombs on foreign children, sending your friends and family off to die in pointless wars, wasting resources on drug prohibition, destroying the healthcare market, subsidizing giant corporations, and constantly pumping fiat money into the economy causing recessions and depressions. Perhaps you don't mind them taking your money and bailing out irresponsible bankers instead of prosecuting them.

If you support the ideas of liberty, justice, and peace, then you should not be saluting the U.S. flag. You should be burning it.