I Wish I knew What I know Now, When I Was Younger…

There was a time when I thought that making a convincing argument must always begin by getting someone’s attention first, and that the only way to do this was with as much emotion as one could muster. As was often the case, this came in the form of an inflammatory statement or act. Thankfully, I no longer think this way and now believe it to be a failed approach in most instances. Passion is good, but I think you get someone to listen to your case more effectively by making a civil and convincing argument. Those who know me well enough are aware that I still struggle this occasionally (hell, just read this blog), but know that I’m doing my best to make the necessary adjustments.

What brought this on you ask: The topic of a flag burning amendment to our constitution.

The reasons I gather most people burn flags is to state their feelings of obvious displeasure with the American people and/or the American government in a grand gesture of protest, or it's an effort to draw attention to oneself in order to make a point (I guess there is a third: To properly dispose of an old worn American flag). In the case of attempting to make a point as I note above, it’s simply a doomed approach. You may have achieved the goal of getting someone’s attention, but you’ve lost all possibility of anyone listening to your argument, because you’ve made them angry. This is the crux of my position that most protests, such as the one at the UC Santa Cruz campus which I blogged about a couple of months ago, are ineffectual at best, counterproductive to your cause at worst. Yes, they may succeed in publicly stating an individual or groups feelings of displeasure, but they change nobody’s mind. Mostly, they just alienate, polarize, and make people angry.

Burning a flag makes me angry. I think anybody who burns an American flag, especially an American, is doing it for the sole purpose of making people angry. One side of me says that if you make a determined CHOICE to make people angry fine, than you suffer the consequences of such actions. If that means someone lands one right across your jaw, then you will have learned a valuable lesson in cause and effect. But if you stop and think for a moment, the more rational side reveals how ridiculous and counter productive the act of burning a flag is for the idiots who choose to do it. As a matter of fact, I’d say it’s a sure fire way to get people to ignore you, your concerns, or the point you were attempting to make in the short and long term.

Having said that, the idea that our leaders spent any amount of time debating a constitutional amendment to prohibit the burning of a flag is simply ridiculous at best, and a shameful political ploy at worst. I don’t believe our constitution and our nation was in crisis over this issue in anyway that warranted this vote. The fact that it almost passed is even more surprising. In a way, the whole debacle is no different than the act of actually burning a flag itself in that it only appeals to an already convinced base, and further polarizes the left by validating preconceptions.

We are at war. Our best legislative efforts and energy should be spent engaged in matters far more impactful to our nation’s well being than suppressing the ability to offend someone else’s patriotic sensibilities, including my own. The first amendment must be stronger than the idiots who burn flags. To the representatives who took the time to proffer this legislation, I say shame on you. Get back to work on issues of higher priority and ones that actually matter at this point in our history. You’re only proving the worst about yourselves.