Theoretical Draft

[Tachikaze]

The following quotes were directed specifically at soly, but I'm a "coward", too, so I thought I'd lend my responses.

When war is personal to you, a war with your country is the same as a war with your family.

A nation is just a political establishment. It's not a holy entity. People treat nationalism like a religion in the US. But, it's not divine. There was life before the US, and there will be life after it's gone.

My family is my family. My friends are my firends. My neighbors earn my respect and friendship or not. They don't get them automatically, although I may help them out of common ultruism. A man living in New Jersey means no more or less to me than a man living in Malaysia, South Africa, or Finland. The people who live in Tijuana, Mexico are closer to me geographically and I am more likely to interact with them.

Another response I might put here is to say that you draw a line at the nation and say that we are a family. Why don't you extend that to the whole world? Why stop at national borders?

If some values are not worth dying for, then life is not worth living. At what point do you take up arms against your oppressors? Or do you bow to slavery and domination at every turn?

What oppressors? The only government that has the power to restrict my rights is in Washington DC.

The only war my nation has been involved in lately the US started. The Iraqis have never even mentioned enslaving Americans, let alone lifted a finger to attack them except in defense.

It is unrealistic to imagine an army landing on the shores of the US, overrunning the shore defenses, fighting house-to-house, then establishing a repressive, totalitarian government. That sounds like 1950s Red Scare. It's a fantasy. It's more likely today that someone will set off a bomb in Disneyland.

What's more, why should your neighbor fight for your liberty if you will only turn your back on him? That is what Cube is talking about. Dropping your selfish ideals and supporting something of meaning to the community a a whole.

I have no special relationship with my neighbors. The people I am closest to outside my family and friends are the foreign students I teach. My inlaws live in Japan, and I am much more likely to want to be with them during a war than here.

Ya, I'm pretty disgusted with your perception of liberty. From your comments, it seems safe to assume that you take everything in this country for granted.

A nation doesn't give freedom; it can only take it away. I was born completely free. The only restrictions I have in my life (that aren't self-imposed) come from my employer, local police, and the US government.

Japan's society is every bit as "free" as the US, if not moreso. This is true of many European countries as well. The students who come to my school are surprised how restrictive the laws are here.

Just look at it this way: Would you defend your home from murderers and rapists or would you let them destroy your home and ravage your family?

If those were my only two choices? Defend my home.

If you would, then would you defend your neighbor if he cried for help? Would you want him to help you if you needed it?

Yes, under many circumstances.

These are the values that Americans share. Real Americans.

I don't care if I'm a real American.

On the whole, I'm more worried about my own government than any foreign one. They are a greater threat to my liberty than anyone else.

The idea of risking my life for George Bush and his corporate friends is redickyulus. If he wants us to fight a war, let him take my place in the draft.