Comment by peterwwillis | Hacker News Reader

Comment by peterwwillis | Hacker News Reader

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Patriotism is not a justification for violating the law. Granted, modern politicians and civilians use patriotism to justify literally anything they want to do as long as it's in the name of the Homeland (similar to religious martyrs justifying anything they do as in the name of their God).

Usually patriotism is the last justification used by those who have nothing else to stand on, like the KKK trying to oppress African-Americans, or the Nativists trying to oppress Irish immigrants, or modern-day politicians who decry all Islamists as terrorists, or the border states trying to oppress migrant workers, etc. Each time they've exhausted all other excuses, Patriotism is the last justification for their actions. (I won't touch on Mao, Stalin, Hitler, etc because they're too tied to specific nationalist policies)

Personally, I wouldn't want to identify myself as a Patriot, because usually they're the ones standing on the wrong side of history.

Unless you were just trolling.... ;-)

> Patriotism is not a justification for violating the law.

Actually, it is. Patriotism, in being a Patriot, is a loaded word in the American (USA) context. Specifically, it is about doing what is good/right for the country and her citizens regardless of the law (i.e. British rule.) Or so says my recollection of American History. I mean... just look at the Patriots (rebels, in the british colloquialism) in the image on the wikipedia page for Patriot_(American_Revolution).

"The Oxford English Dictionary third definition of "Patriot" is "A person actively opposing enemy forces occupying his or her country; a member of a resistance movement, a freedom fighter."[1]. In this definition, if the alleged DDoSers are Chines, attempting to block the actions of a foreigner imposing influence in their own land, they are the more Patriotic? Which is why the term is utterly useless in this argument; Dare, any other.

> Usually patriotism is the last justification used by those who have nothing else to stand on[sic]

Thus was it written.

[1]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patriot_(American_Revolution)

edit: add ambiguous ?

Patriotism isn't a word really, it's a neologism invented in the 18th century, probably attached to by the founders because the British hated the term. And while Patriotism's historical (and more ethical) definition might have been to defend the principles of one's country and the constitution given to the people, the modern definition is waaaaay different. At this point we should bring back the word Loyalist for the people who use Patriot to mean someone who blindly follows their government.

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