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Friday, August 13, 2010

Stargazing

There are people who might be surprised that I'm patriotic. I get ticked at my politicians on a regular basis, and have been a pacifist since I watched TV as a child and saw other children running from explosions in Viet Nam. There simply has to be better ways of solving the world's problems than blowing people and places up.

Don't get me wrong -- I believe in our right to self-defense, but wars with Iraq and Afghanistan make less sense than blowing up Saudi Arabia if we're actually retaliating for 9/11. But like I said, I'm a pacifist. I don't want to blow up anybody, and I don't want our soldiers blown up either. It hurts me to see young people without arms, legs, or faces because of the stupid decisions made by people in power for oil interests. Rich people get richer, and everybody involved suffers. The rest of us are supposed to buy cars and stuff to help the economy and avoid looking at that man controlling things behind the curtain.

On the other hand, my country right or wrong -- right? America isn't just the flawed people in Washington or greedy corporations or fruit loops in Waco, Texas or whatever other crackpots you might want to point to that live here. America is an ideal of freedoms. Believe in the religion of your choice, or don't believe in one at all. Every child is given a basic education and libraries are free. Anyone can go to college and study the career of their choice and abilities. In theory anyway, none of us is limited by our caste in life. The streets may not be paved in gold, but we do provide opportunities. It isn't all given to you, but you have the guaranteed right to work towards your own happiness. We have the right to say what we want and to create pictures of anything we want, even if it criticizes the government itself.

My sense of patriotism runs deep. My ancestors have fought in America's wars since the first war against the British, and I even had relatives who signed the Declaration of Independence. My relatives fought on both sides of the Civil War, in both world wars, Korea, the Gulf, etc. I feel obligated to support the people who are willing to die for our freedoms and the greater good, but that doesn't mean I have to support the politicians that send them in the line of fire in the first place. And as an American woman, I do have the right to vote. I think there are a lot of Americans who share my views, but we are the quiet majority who seldom get heard in the news.

My flag is painted in acrylics. There are 13 smaller stars representing the original colonies with a large star symbolizing the unity between the states. Or maybe the big star is for Ohio, because obviously, that's the best state. Anyone who says different is clearly deluded and/or prejudiced, or looking for a fight. Which kind of gets to the point of patriotism. It's love of home, wherever your home is. I'm just lucky that I get to call America and Ohio home.

17 comments:

  1. Nice one Linda and very well said. God bless America!

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  2. I lack somewhat in patriotism (being an American who has never really lived in the US), but I think this interpretation of the topic is fabulous!

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  3. Very nice, love the sentiment.

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  4. Yay!! Let's hear it for America the beautiful :-)

    Good write up, always liked this illo--glad you posted it!

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  5. I'm not American but I do like your illustration, I like the texture on it. I've visited America a few times but not Ohio, maybe next time....

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  6. Thanks Lins! If you ever make it here we've got a great art museum, orchestra, parks -- plus the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame! Just doing my bit to encourage tourism :)

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  7. This is lovely and a wonderful idea. Thanks for the comment you left on my site too :)

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  8. Beautiful Depth in this. You know it's weird being in Oz because we are slightly stepped back from the American tradition of patriotism. And being on the net... and having your work looked at by so many differnt cultures, I think that the emotive correlative of the american Flag might be a lot different in some places, than how a lot of us see it.

    I'm beating around the bush here obviously.
    But you have already hit the crux of the matter in your text.

    It's a lovely work. For some reason it reminds me of Jasper Johns mixed with Rothko. :)

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  9. I know the American flag means different things in different places, and Hollywood and politics makes us all look wealthy, rude, and imperialistic. But regular people are the same no matter where they live. Some are kind, and some are like the relatives you don't want to acknowledge, but I think the idea of home is universal.

    The idea of patriotism has been polluted by news coverage of radicals at gun rallies. I guess I wanted to give a face to a regular American because I know there's so many people on the web from other places. For that matter, there's a lot of Americans who are from other places.

    I love the comparison to Johns and Rothko. Thanks! I think I had Jackson Pollack in mind at the time because sometimes I need to throw paint around.

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  10. I love this, its a really lovely painting-I have always been proud to be Canadian but jealous of your flag, [its much cooler than ours!]

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  11. To tell the truth, I always liked the Canadian flag. It's friendlier, but then, Candadians are friendly too.

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  12. absolutely great work!

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