The Personal Website of Mark W. Dawson

O Say Can You See

O say can you see, by the dawn's early light,
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming,
Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there;
O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

Democracy is the worst form of government ever invented by man, except for all the others. These words uttered by Winston Churchill are cautionary to remind us that in all societies there are good and bad elements. What is important is that a society has much more good than bad. And in Winston Churchill's opinions (and mine) a democracy does much more good than it does badly. And in a democracy, the citizens are often trying to make their society better and eliminate as much of the bad as possible. Whereas in other forms of government this is often not the case. We should remember this, and try to make sure whenever we change society we are changing it for the good and not for the bad, and that we do this carefully so as not to harm the good that is already in our society.

Corollary: The United States is the worst nation on the earth, except for all the others. In it is fashionable to disparage the United States for its imperfections. It should be noted, however, despite its imperfections, the United States is still the best place to live in. It provides liberty and freedom, as well as economic prosperity, to the greatest number of its residents. This is why people from all over the world want to immigrate to the United States. The other good thing about the United States is that it recognizes it has imperfections and tries to do something about correcting these imperfections. It does not often succeed, nor often succeeds well, but it is continually trying to succeed. This is probably unique in the history of our world, and that is why the United States is better than all the other countries.

Corollary: The United States is the most racist country in the world, except for all the others. Racism exists in the United States, but it existed in all other nations. Indeed, I believe that racism is inherent in human nature. The desire to associate with others that we know and understand is a self-protection mechanism that is inherent in all humans. To deny so is to deny human nature. The means to overcome this and inherent tribalism is through knowledge and experience in understanding one another. It requires that we listen to the better angels of our nature, and not listen to our devils.

No matter what corollary you formulate you will often find that The United States is more often better than any other country in the world. America has many problems and imperfections that need to be addressed. Does that mean that you should not respect or love the United States? Hardly. You should love and respect the United States for the principals that it was established upon – Liberty and Freedom, as well as Government of the people, by the people, and for the people. You should respect that the American people, when properly informed about Americas problems and imperfections, will rise up and try to change America for the better.

How can you show this love and respect? The most universal way is by being respectful during the playing of the National Anthem. By being respectful you are not only showing that you believe in the principles of the United States, but that you are honoring the men and woman who have sacrificed their lives, limbs, health, and sometimes fortunes to further these principles. It also demonstrates our common heritage and desire to achieve our goals of Liberty and Freedom, as well as Government of the people, by the people, and for the people.

Or, as John Tortorella, the coach of Team USA for the World Cup of Hockey in 2016 said:

"If any of my players sit on the bench for the national anthem, they will sit there the rest of the game."

"Listen," he told reporters. "We're in a great country because we can express ourselves. And I am not against expressing yourselves. That's what's great about our country. We can do that. But when there are men and women that give their lives for their flag, for their anthem, have given their lives, continue to put themselves on the line with our services for our flag, for our anthem, families that have been disrupted, traumatic physical injuries, traumatic mental injuries for these people that give us the opportunity to do the things we want to do, there's no chance an anthem and a flag should come into any type of situation where you're trying to make a point.

"It is probably the most disrespectful thing you can do as a U.S. citizen is to bring that in. Because that's our symbol. All for [expressing] yourself. That's what's so great. Everybody does. But no chance when it comes to the flag and the anthem. No chance."

Does this mean that you should not publicly protest and enlighten the American people about our problems and imperfections? Absolutely not – we all have this right as part of our freedoms and liberties! The only question is in what arena this protest and enlightenment are appropriate. In my opinion, there are two arenas where it is not appropriate; a paid public event and in your place of your employment.

If you are an employee, working at your place of employment, under the direction of your employer, then you do not have this right to protest and enlighten at the workplace. In these circumstances, your employer has the right to establish reasonable standards of conduct within the employment arena. It has always been considered reasonable for an employer to establish that there will be no politicking on the job. They do this to establish a comity within the workplace where all employees are focused on doing their job without distraction. They also do this to assure that any contact with customers, clients, and the public will have no negative consequences for their business. Any employee who wishes to politic should do so outside of their place of employment and in such a way as to not bring disrepute to their employer. To do otherwise, both inside or outside of the place of employment by an employee may have negative consequences to the employer and they would be within their rights to dismiss you from employment.

In a public arena, where the participants have paid to attend the event, it is also inappropriate to protest and enlighten at the event. Whether it be at a concert, a play, a sporting event, a movie, a forum or any other paid event, the participant has paid to be involved in the event and only the event and they have the right to expect after paying their hard-earned money not to be involved in anything other than the event. To do so otherwise could lead to dissatisfaction and/or distaste for the event by some of the attendees in which they would feel they were deprived of their monies worth. And your politicking should not devalue another’s paid enjoyment. It is ethically equivalent to the taking of their monies under false pretenses as they received something unwanted for which they paid. This could also have a negative effect on the business that runs the event, and the performers of the event, for any other future event in which they may be involved.

I would, therefore, request that you keep your politicking out of your place of employment or in a paid public event, as you are infringing on other people’s rights. And nobody has the right to interfere with another person’s rights. This politicking includes during the playing of the National Anthem at these paid public events. If you feel that you cannot show love and respect for the American flag and its ideals, then at a minimum you should stand quietly and respectfully to others while they salute the flag. In any other arena you should feel free to peaceably protest and enlighten the American people.