I'm hardly the biggest admirer of patriotism -- I mostly think it's a nebulous concept used to elicit support from people who'd never bother to question its meaning. Think about it: what does "love of country" really mean? It can't mean love of earth or soil; that's stupid. It's not clear that it refers to love of one's fellow citizens, either, since many of the people who consistently list patriotism among their virtues are among the most hateful and intolerant individuals you'll ever meet. And while one could argue that it refers to the founding principles and values of one's country, these values aren't exclusive to specific nations. America may be hailed as "the land of the free and the home of the brave," but it's not as if people in the United Kingdom live in shackles and regularly extol the merits of cowardice.
Furthermore, I tend to think that a truly good or positive quality is one that can't easily be juxtaposed with obviously negative traits or descriptors without introducing some contradiction. For example, if we assume that committing acts of terror is necessarily dishonorable, an individual cannot be both honorable and a terrorist. But I'm not at all convinced that a terrorist cannot be patriotic, as one can easily imagine an individual committing terrorist acts out of love for his or her country (whatever that means). Nazis were patriots, too.
That said, even I find the scam e-mail that just arrived in my inbox -- and how it seeks to exploit patriots as well as those sympathetic to our military personnel (though one admittedly does not have to be "patriotic" to fall into the later category) -- to be utterly abhorrent.
Dear Friend,
Hello there, my name is Jason Morales and i am an U.S. army soldier here in Iraq. I am sorry if this email came to you by surprise, im simply asking for your help. I got your contacts through my personal research from the directory of Wells Fargo bank account holders, and out of desperation. I decided to reach you through this messege, apparently I am having problems with my ATM card and as I can not cash out money with ATM machine here in Iraq, I would really appreciate if you could help me receive some funds from my wells account to your account and send to me or my wife in the U.S. via Western Union, i could not get raw cash from my account as it will take a longer process to do that here.
Please I want you to know that there is no problem, I will be very glad to pay you for helping me to do this with the sum of $200 per each $1,000 transfer to your account. Me and my privates friends here at the base would really appreciate it since situations are really hard for us here in Iraq to cash out any U.S. dollars...
I look forward of hearing back from you as soon as you read this email...
Thanks you and have a nice day!!!Private Jason Morales,
U.S. Army
Terrible.