Flags

A flag is a strong patriotic symbol that needs to be recognized as a form of propaganda and love (see Propaganda, Love). The purpose of a flag is to enlist unwavering/unquestioning/blind support for your country, just like your country is your mother or father. A flag binds people together, like a family, but it also creates an ”us against them” mentality (see Good and Bad).

I realize that saying our flag is a form of propaganda seems unpatriotic. I realize that people are so passionate about the flag that they are prepared to seriously hurt any individual who desecrates it. You would feel the same kinds of anger about disparaging remarks toward your parents. I want people to realize that the more you love your country, the easier it is for your country to manipulate you, using propaganda (see Propaganda). You will almost do anything for a parent that you love, and in the same way patriots will almost do anything (lie, steal, fight and/or kill) for their country. 

To enable the realization that a flag is propaganda, just think about the Nazi flag. What is the image that you see? Next, realize that every nation has a flag, and every individual in those nations is supposed to love his or her country. The purpose of a national flag is to say that if you love your country, you must give unwavering support for the government. That makes about as much sense as doing everything your parents tell you to do. You know your parents make mistakes and have their reasons for trying to influence you. Your government makes mistakes and they have their reasons for trying to manipulate you.

Some would say that I am crazy, and that our flag represents all the things that America stands for, like freedom, democracy, and justice. I would agree to an extent. Everyone needs to realize that Neo-con “think tank” propaganda is being used to erode our freedom, democracy, and justice (see Neo-cons, Freedom, Democracy). They are “manufacturing consent,” so that they can do what they want (see Psychology). They are using fear and patriotism to manipulating public opinion, to achieve their goals of power and greed (see Propaganda).

Many people may not realize that patriotism was actively promoted in 1918, with the creation of a Fourth of July celebration, to promote the evangelical Americanization of foreign-born residents and to enlist support for the war. Both of these goals are entirely reasonable, but the method should still be recognized as propaganda. The Pledge of Allegiance, the “Star Spangled Banner,” and “God Bless America” were written to elicit patriotism, and are more examples of propaganda. 

The reason people have so much trouble accepting this is because of the propaganda you receive in school. You are told Communists and dictators used propaganda to control their people, and you might have been shown a blatantly racist cartoon. I’m telling you that the United States has been using propaganda from the very beginning, and it continues today. You can still look in the Opinion/Editorial sections of many newspapers and see blatantly, one-sided, racist cartoons (many funded by Neo-con think tanks). It was in the late 60s that I first started to become aware of the propaganda, and now it is so pervasive in our society that you can’t escape it. What is even more shocking is how the propaganda is being controlled by the Neo-cons and corporate Republicans, without the knowledge of 90% of the public. Hundreds of millions of dollars from corporations to Neo-con “think tanks” is making that possible (see Neo-cons).

The flag needs to be recognized as one form, out of thousands of instances of propaganda to which we are constantly exposed. Once you recognize propaganda, you can resist being influenced by it. If you are not manipulated by it, then you can think intelligently.

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