Cindy Sheehan:"MATRIOTISM"

[kpete]

Matriotism
Submitted by davidswanson on Sun, 2006-01-22 10:39. Cindy Sheehan
By Cindy Sheehan

Much as I wish I could take credit for the word "matriotism," another woman wrote to me and gave me the concept. I was so intrigued by the word that I have been meditating on the possible ideology behind it, and a new paradigm for true and lasting peace in the world.

Before I dive into the concept of Matriotism, let's explore the word "patriotism." Dictionary.com defines it as: love of country and willingness to sacrifice for it. When we all know that patriotism in the US means: exploiting others' love for country by sending them and their children off to sacrifice for my bank balance!

..............

I also know that the women of the world who don't have a voice, such as the mothers of Iraq who are struggling just to survive in their needlessly destroyed country, are counting on us women who do have voices to use them to end George Bush's manifestly idiotic doctrine of preemptive wars of aggression based on the justification that "I think that country might be dangerous to me and my pals."

War will end forever when we matriots stand up and say: "No, I am not giving my child to the fake patriotism of the war machine which chews up my flesh and blood to spit out obscene profits."

"It is not for him to pride himself who loveth his own country, but rather for him who loveth the whole world. The earth is but one country and mankind its citizens." ~Baha'u'llah

http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/?q=node/6989

[Grateful for Hope]

1. Cindy is so right

She speaks for me.

:patriot:

[proud2BlibKansan]

2. Proud Matriot here !

You go, Cindy!!

[AZBlue]

3. Excluding men and women w/o children?

Not the best move from a pr standpoint.

[bloom]

5. Everyone has a mother.

Everyone has a father as well - but Matriotism doesn't exclude anyone any more than Patriotism does. And if anything, less.


"The vile sputum of "if you aren't with us, then you are against us" is basically the epitome of patriotism gone wild."

"Matriotism is the opposite of patriotism…not to destroy it, but to be a yin to its yang, and balance out the militarism of patriotism."

(Cindy)

[AZBlue]

7. Won't win over anyone who's not already in her bandwagon.

Neither will saying it's the opposite of patriotism.

Just saying from a marketing point of view, from the point of view of trying to get others to work with you and join your cause, her comments don't work. She's shooting herself in the foot, so to speak.

[bloom]

8. For our purposes

I think it's an interesting thing to consider - alternative ways of thinking about patriotism with it's rise of patriarchal thinking.

A lot of people on this board have considered that there can be alternatives to conventional wisdom.

I think a lot of people who would consider Cindy's POV - would like to as well.

There won't be many FOX-watching fundies who would be won over at any rate.


If we have to curtail our words to what they would accept - there wouldn't be much to say.

[thebigidea]

9. seeing as you're a marketing genius, how would you win them over, then?

something constructive would be nice, eh?

[bloom]

4. I like it.

"Patriotism denotes positive attitudes by a individuals to their own nation, to its national homeland, its culture, its members, and to its interests. The word is derived from the Latin patria, fatherland, which has a much broader meaning than a geographical territory."

http://www.answers.com/topic/patriotism


Patriotism has a lot in common with patriarchal. It's funny that countries are referred to in a feminine way - until they want to bring the nationalistic aspect into it. And as the expanded definition goes on to say - at one time patriotism would have encompassed more of an idea of blood relatives fighting together to defend or expand their territories. That is certainly the appeal that Hitler wanted to capitalize on.


Another snip:

"Three forms of patriotism can be distinguished. The first is personal patriotism, which is emotional and voluntary. The patriot in this sense adheres to certain patriotic values, such as respect for the flag. However, the patriots often insist, that the entire population of the nation shares adherence to these values, creating a values-based ideological patriotism. It is structurally similar to other values ideologies and movements, such as the family values movement. The political expression, in both cases, consists of campaigns to legally enforce the values in question."

Patriotism as used by the Republicans really pushes the patriarchy angel.

[bloom]

6. www.womensaynotowar.org - International Day of Peace on March 8 th

"A Matriot loves his/her country but does not buy into the exploitive phrase of "My country right or wrong." (As Chesterton said, that's like saying, "My mother, drunk or sober.") A Matriot knows that her country can do a lot of things right, especially when the government is not involved. For example, I know of no other citizens of any country who are more personally generous than those of America. However, a Matriot also knows that when her country is wrong, it can be responsible for murdering thouands upon thousands of innocent and unsuspecting humans. A true Matriot would never drop an atomic bomb or bombs filled with white phosphorous, carpet bomb cities and villages, or control drones from thousands of miles away to kill innocent men, women and children....

Whether you are a male or female Matriot, Code Pink Alert, endorsed by Gold Star Families for Peace, is calling for an International Day of Peace on March 8 th…called for, organized by, and supported by women. Women and men with matriotic tendencies can get more info and endorse the call for peace at: www.womensaynotowar.org. It is past time for we Matriots to get together to stridently call for an end to the immoral bloodshed in Iraq."

[bloom]

10. This is sort of a tangent

But I thought it was an interesting thought - and it's related to the "patriotism" / "matriotism" concept (even if we do have women in the military)...

Found on http://melancholicfeminista.blogspot.com/

Friday, January 20, 2006

A Modest Proposal: The Mommy Bill

"Among the adjectives that patriarchy uses to depict the figure of the mother is: self-sacrificing, selfless, nurturing, devoted, and dutiful. Contrast this with the images and phrases we associate with the soldier: making the ultimate sacrifice, heroic, patriotic, and valorous.

Could we consider the figure of the mother to be equivalent to the figure of the soldier in patriarchal thought? Do both roles perform equally valuable tasks? Are both also of equal necessity for the perpetuation of our institutions, at least as they are currently run?

I can imagine that many conservatives would happily say "yes" they are equivalent and equally valuable roles that men and women perform. Well, let's be clear, they are roles very strictly tied to biological difference. Women are mothers and men are soldiers. Right?

Why, then, does the federal government give educational grants to soldiers and not mothers? It seems to me grossly unfair. I think we need a "Mommy Bill."

...Let's see the social conservatives put their money where their mouths are. If you really value motherhood, then give women some remuneration for their services that carries with it the honor associated with the G.I. Bill..."