Salt Lake local, Brandy Fox, shared this piece written by her daughter, Phoebe. It makes me wonder why we don’t hand off the world to the next generation NOW before the rest of us screw it up any worse…
Brandy said, “She is 12.5 [years old]. She has Autism with a genius-level IQ and Autism-related disabilities, but language & ideas happen to be where she excels. I hope she keeps writing these zingers all through school.”
This was Phoebe’s essay for the prompt, “I’m proud to be a United States citizen because…”
“I am not proud to be a United States citizen, for several reasons. America is a flawed nation with racism, racist immigration laws, homophobia, religious intolerance, and a fake democracy which is actually a republic oligarchy (in which one wealthy group of citizens holds the most power over everyone else.) I don’t believe in the idea of patriotism because it fosters xenophobia towards people of other nations. The definition of what it means to be a patriot is hazy and is often based on what different religious groups think it means to be patriotic. America is very militaristic, not a peace-loving nation. I can’t feel patriotic about a country that is always at war.
“Patriotism demands ‘group-think.’ When people are patriotic, they fall into an either/or situation – either you are a good, proud American and support the war, or you criticize it and you are not a good, proud American. It is an attitude that looks down on other nations by saying ‘my country is better than yours.’ The United States is not the best nation in the world. It is one among very many, and there are many people sharing our world.”
Wise, wise woman.
hey deb henry... 
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