U... S... A!!!

Photo: © Stan B.I've always had mixed emotions upon seeing the American flag. My first reaction is one of familiarity and pride, the latter due to all the good this country has done both for its own citizens and people throughout the world. This initial, feel good response is then quickly overtaken by the sad realization of all the evil, yes- evil, this country has also wrought throughout its history, to the very present. Wars of choice, discrimination at home, coups abroad... as if there's an actual policy that every good deed must be countered by an equally monstrous one. Throughout the years, people came to make better lives for themselves, on land stolen at the point of a gun, worked by the labor of slaves- and it's not just history (although, even that is now also being erased in our schools and institutions of learning). We have a proud tradition of providing aid to the needy, food to the starving, medicine to the sick- last year, our government eliminated many if not most of…