Archive - 2005

At a messageboard I frequently visit, the following poll was posted recently.

If your country was under occupation from foreign invaders, what would you do?

Now, mind you, most people there (as everywhere in the English-speaking we are Americans. Also, you had to be blind not to spot the analogy here. The assumption was that there would be an armed resistance group battling the invaders.

71.16% voted that they would support the resistance: 54.81% would actually fight the invaders, while the rest would give anything from weapons and supplies (10.58%) to moral support (5.77%).

17.27% preferred not to take sides and either flee the country (11.54%), continue with their normal life as far as possible (5.77%), or support both (0.96%).

0.96% would take the invaders' side and fight for them.

(The remaining 9.62% chose the 'Other' option.)

It is an interesting idea, is it not? More than half would risk their lives in a fight against the invading power, mostly without hesitation, and nearly another quarter would lend their support in other ways. These, incidentally, are the same people who yell about evil terrorists in the other threads. Either they really haven't gotten the analogy (hey, never assume anything), or perhaps the right wing didn't get to the poll yet.

Patriotism is a tricky thing. You turn the situation around, and suddenly it commands you to do the very thing you condemned in your enemy earlier on...

[migrated and backdated from blogspot on 2007-01-04]