Do You Respect The Flag, or What It Stands For?

Since the Election, my profile picture on Facebook is an upside down American flag.  This is a signal of distress, which I can't think of a more appropriate sign for these times we are living in.  I've been accused a couple of times of "disrespecting" the flag, which it isn't.  In fact, several Veterans have stepped up to say so, and the first person I saw with it was a retired Navy officer.

With the protests, there have been posts on some people's pages to make flag desecration a felony.  It will never happen.  It's a part of free speech.  My thought, though, is why are you so worried about the flag?  The flag is a symbol.  It is an inanimate object.  It becomes something to be proud of and revere because of what it represents.

"Veterans fought for this flag. It's an insult to them."

Did they really fight for the flag? Or did they fight for the ideals that it represents?  They fought because they were proud of the country they came from that offered opportunities to everyone.  This country has always strived to be someplace where people can get a fair shot at a chance to live a good life.  We weren't perfect along the way, but when we saw injustice, we corrected it, albeit a little slowly sometimes.  The love of country comes from those ideals and it's why so many other countries used to look up to us as a world leader.  People who lived in countries where people lived in shacks and had little opportunity wanted to come here because at least there was a shot.  We were proud that so many people wanted to immigrate here.  We were proud that people could afford a home and a car.  Students could work hard and pay for college and make something of themselves.  Our politicians may have disagreed, but they were all working together to try to make the country a better place for all people.

All that has changed.  The closing of mental hospitals put many people who need help out on the streets.  They live in homeless camps and are often drifting from one county to another, not getting any help.  Some of these people are veterans.  Should we be so worried about how we treat the flag when we have veterans who "fought for it" who are living on the street and unable to get the help they need?  I have often said, make sure veterans are properly cared for before you talk to me about "respecting the flag."

If you really want people to "respect the flag" you have to make them proud of what it stands for.  In a country where we are so divided and people currently feel empowered to subjugate and assault minorities, many people don't feel much pride.  Around the world, people aren't looking at our flag with the same sense of envy they once had.  Having some introspection into just why that is in the country would go a long way, instead of wanting to put people in jail.