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Comment/feedback # 30
| Patriotism is a word that is not truly understood with regard to what it is to be a patriot; surely, if you wish your country to be great and honorable then you will do what you think necessary to achieve that goal. You can only enjoy the fruits of patriotism if you are proud to be an American, and you can only be proud to be an American if those who represent America are ethical and honorable. Therefore, if there is dishonesty and corruption in the corridors of power it is your duty as an Ameri ... more ... |
Comment/feedback # 26
| Thanks for the clarification of patriotism between Liberals and Conservataives to pursue our individual freedom for core value - equal opportunity for all Americans. Ed Ma. For commenting on #26 |
Comment/feedback # 28
(A feedback on # 26
)
| Dear Ed: Thanks. Please pass our message. A lot of people are forwarding this newsletter. Best, SB For commenting on #28 |
Comment/feedback # 22
| Mr. Woo, Thank you, on this great July 4, it's a great reminder to many Asian people, just by passing through our community in my city, you can almost distinguish which is a native American house and which is not by displaying a flag. I used to e-mail my friends for reminding them of displaying a flag on July 4Th several years ago, only a few of them responded to it. As for myself, I am display the flag everyday. 360 days a year. To fight for our political position is one way we have to ... more ... |
Comment/feedback # 24
(A feedback on # 22
)
| Dear John: Thanks for the support. I agree with Beinart's view that patriotism should be a combination of affirmation and struggle to improve the nation. Display a flag some of the time is affirmation. Inducing our presidential candidates to pay attention to Asian Ams' rightful concern for equal opportunity is helping to make America "a more perfect Union." SB For commenting on #24 |
Comment/feedback # 21
| Objectification of Asian-Americans: A Historical Consistency By Malcolm Yeung The Raging Buddha 1994 For people of color, the United States has never been a place in which true assimilation and equality is possible. What is meant by assimilation is the incorporation of a people into the fabric of a society to a point where they have become synonymous with the dominant population. This sort of assimilation has never happened for any group of color in this nation. One just has to look to ... more ... |
Comment/feedback # 25
(A feedback on # 21
)
| Dear Malcolm Yeung: Please try to limit your comments to about 150 words. You'll probably get more people to read them. Thanks. SB For commenting on #25 |
Comment/feedback # 29
(A feedback on # 21
)
| Thanks for the great article! For commenting on #29 |
Comment/feedback # 20
| Con-Fusion Ethic: How Whites Use Asians to Further Anti-Black Racism By Tim Wise Published as a ZNet Commentary, October 7, 2002 It happened again, for what seems like the millionth time. Once again, in response to something I said about ongoing racism in the United States, someone (a white male, naturally) pulled out the all-too-common conservative race card (oh yes, they have one), which they believe disproves the existence of racial injustice. It sounds a bit like this: "If ra ... more ... |
Comment/feedback # 27
(A feedback on # 20
)
| Dear Tim: I share your puzzlement. Why so many Asian Ams care for the "model minority" praise had puzzled me. !44 years after the "all men are created equal" declaration, whilte women couldn't vote. Think who those white women were. They were no less than the mothers, wives, sisters, and daughters of the politicians in power at the time. If the politicians could discriminate against their own mothers, wives, sisters and daughter, what made some Asian Ams believe being praised as model min ... more ... |
Comment/feedback # 19
| Excellent words, SB. Fel Amistad For commenting on #19 |
Comment/feedback # 17
| Hi SB, You did the paraphrase well. Happy Fourth! Wing Mar MD Retired Immigrant Son of a Paper Son and a Veteran of WWII For commenting on #17 |
Comment/feedback # 18
(A feedback on # 17
)
| Good to hear from you, Wing. SB (son of a merchant in Shanghai who had treated others kindly while exercising a superb frugal discipline on self.) For commenting on #18 |
Comment/feedback # 15
| Conservatism is seeing the glass half full and appreciating it, and tries to improve America by conserving the good and preventing the the?social and moral breakdown that come when we are soft on crime and tolerate all manners of corruption Liberals see the glass half empty and yes they criticize but more damagingly, they propose rule and regulations that hampers the economy (because the pander to interest groups) and promote ungodly behavior (because they don't believe in God) and in the nam ... more ... |
Comment/feedback # 16
(A feedback on # 15
)
| You spoke like a true Republican conservative. I am not sure if you want to down the people who don't agree with you i.e. the liberals that much. Does anyone care to reply to this person? To reply, you need to click on "more" at the end of his window; click on "post a follow-up message"; type in your comments; click on "submit;" click on Post Board to get back to the Post Board page to see your comments posted. I've always hoped that my readers will discuss things among yourselves, in p ... more ... |
Comment/feedback # 14
| Thanks, S.B., for the reminder. The flag has been on display since = yesterday. Paul For commenting on #14 |
Comment/feedback # 13
| For commenting on #13 |
Comment/feedback # 9
| S.B., Question about the McCain campaign and questionnaire. Both the McCain cam paign and the RNC keep hitting me up for donations, as I have made small do nations to both before. Recently I started telling them I would only res ume donations after the McCain campaign respond to the 80-20 questionnaire. But I fear the fundraisers who contact me for money are not connecting with the McCain campaign people who have declined to answer the questions. What is the current status of the quest ... more ... |
Comment/feedback # 10
(A feedback on # 9
)
| Dear John: You are absolutely doing the right thing -- telling McCain folks to reply to our questionnaire. Believe me, few things in a campaign don't get reported back to the headquarters. However, the headquarters have to get many such messages before they'll respond. There is continuing contact between 80-20 and McCain at quite high a level. The McCain campaign knows that after 80-20's Endorsement convention on 8/2, the train will have left the station. Thanks for you sticking up for ... more ... |
Comment/feedback # 7
| Great to hear from you! Will put up the flag tomorrow. Let it fly. Haven't seen you since those days at ECCFC. We are now retiring in the Bay Area. Regards! Ping Kwan and Grace Tse For commenting on #7 |
Comment/feedback # 8
(A feedback on # 7
)
| Dear Ping Kwan and Grace: Go to hear from you indeed. Ahh, ECCFC reminds me of the good ole' days. Are you 80-20 members? If not, may I ask you to consider joining as member and then running for candidate for Delegates to 80-20's Endorsement Convention. Please read my email to 80-20 members in the Bay area, you'll understand what it is all about. If you both join, you can both run. Thanks. SB (for joining go to http://80-20initiative.net Click on "Join" and pay very ... more ... |
Comment/feedback # 5
| Thank you for this important message. However, it should be a two-way street. People should take the time to care about our country--to vote and serve our fellow people. And our County should demonstrate love and devotion to all its people, even when there is nothing to gain politically. I would credit those political leaders who give their time and priority to all their citizens, even those who are naturalized. From the AP news story: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080703/ap_on_r ... more ... |
Comment/feedback # 6
(A feedback on # 5
)
| Thanks for you nice message. Happy French Fries eating tomorrow. SB :-) For commenting on #6 |
Comment/feedback # 11
(A feedback on # 6
)
| There should not be a two-way street. The country is for the people, no the other way around. Otherwise you are proposing a compromise between democracy and totalism. So, one shouldn't love his country if he is truely democratic. For commenting on #11 |
Comment/feedback # 3
| This country is here to serve our own self interests (as your previous post states). Why should we love this country? Please be clear. For commenting on #3 |
Comment/feedback # 4
(A feedback on # 3
)
| Thanks for the tough question. My message last time was that as American citizens we should act out of our self-interest or enlightened self-interest. Is it in my self-interest to change my citizenship as soon as I find a country more to my immediate benefit? Is it in my self-interest to naturalize and not give my chosen country my primary allegiance? I don't think so. A person who acts that way is likely to be without a single friend. Human beings appreciate loyalty and devotion to imp ... more ... |
Comment/feedback # 12
(A feedback on # 4
)
| Is stopping at the border selfish or self-interested? I suppose both. My point is that the country should devote to the people, not the people should devote to the country. The goal is to serve the people, not any abstract entity. If everyone of us cares and only cares about our own interests, collectively we will make this country an ideal place. This is your theory. Right? Thanks for the discussion. For commenting on #12 |
Comment/feedback # 23
(A feedback on # 12
)
| "If everyone of us cares and only cares about our own interests, collectively we will make this country an ideal place." The above is what I observe our nation seems to be operating under. It is not my theory. I am sure that others have said such things before. Why does it work? Here is my explanation. An overwhelming majority of people know their self-interest well. Do we know our community and/or national interest well? I doubt it. So people who insist on factoring their definition ... more ... |
Comment/feedback # 1
| Thank you for this note. To paraphrase someone else,one should love one's country, but why should it stop at the border? Best regards, John For commenting on #1 |
Comment/feedback # 2
(A feedback on # 1
)
| Well said, John. However, reality does pose some limits. As Beinart's article points out, if the love is uniform and without borders then much more money should be sent to poorer regions of the world which will come at the expense of America's self interest. What is your view on that? SB For commenting on #2 |
... end ...
On July 4th, we celebrate the blessings of liberty which we enjoy as
Americans. Let's all display a flag, shall we?
Patriotism is "love and devotion to country. The questions are how we
love it and how we express our devotion."
There is a great article in Time magazine by Peter Beinart on patriotism
(July 7 issue). I can't do it justice by summarizing it. Nevertheless, I'll try
with the aim to entice you to read the article itself. He wrote and I
paraphrase liberally:
American patriotism wears tow faces. Conservatives prefer the
patriotism of affirmation. Liberals choose the patriotism of dissent.
Conservatives think that being born into a nation is like being born into
a family. You love it because it is yours. Liberals think patriotism is a
struggle to narrow the gap between American ideals and America's
reality. To conservatives, the devotion to America must come first,
struggle to improve it is secondary. To liberals, America must earn our
devotion by making good on its ideals.
Both brands of patriotism have defects. Celebrating America too
unabashedly risks becoming self-righteous and turn patriotism into
nationalism. However, loving America purely because of its ideals could
lead to switching allegiance to other nations too easily.
America needs a mixture of both brands, because love of country
requires both affirmation and criticism.
Many Asian Americans are personal embodiments of this ideal
mix. We give America our primary allegiance*. At the same time, we are
engaged in a great struggle prodding America to fulfill its core value --
equal opportunity for all Americans.
Please display a flag. July 4th is affirmation time.
Commets are welcome at
http://www.80-20educationalfoundation.org/politicaledu/posterboard.asp
Warmest regards,
S. B. Woo
President, 80-20 Educational Foundation, Inc.
* What if a naturalized citizen still has strong feelings for his/her old
country? That is quite OK, so long as he/she gives first allegiance to
America. America is a great and wise nation. It knows that people who
can forget their old country over one naturalization ceremony could easily
forget America the next moment.
