Patriotism consists not in
waving the flag, but in
striving that our country shall
be righteous as well as strong
James Bryce
I picked this quote became James Bryce was not an American. He was a British Ambassador to the US from 1907 to 1913. And he wrote The American Commonwealth. So while we’re flag waving and remembering our military who died in just and in unjust wars, let’s remember that just flexing our muscles is not enough. Straining relationships with our allies is not patriotism. It’s stupidity.
But I think these next two quotes from him are chilling because he wrote these in 1888. Think how much worse it is now.
Sixty years ago, there were no great fortunes in America, few large fortunes, no poverty. Now there is some poverty… and a greater number of gigantic fortunes than in any other country of the world.
As respects education… the profusion of…elementary schools tends to raise the mass to a higher point than in Europe… [but] there is an increasing class that has studied at the best universities. It appears that equality has diminished [in this regard] and will diminish further.
Oh my goodness Jennifer, you are right, so chilling. I thinks the situation today is just the natural evolution of the time he refers to. No one has ever stopped the elite classes from being the elite classes and they have just gained more and more ground at the expense of everyone else. I often think of it as a gigantic game of Monopoly. There are always players who get the upper hand and end up with all the money. But with Monopoly, the game is over when all the money has gone to one person – I just wonder how that works in civilized society. When will the game be over? Apologies for sporadic visits – but I know you are in a similar position to me and will understand the pressures. I need to develop your knack of very effective short posts to keep my own blog alive.