Every few years (usually around election time) we see an interest in a constitutional amendment to outlaw flag burning. I am always surprised to see otherwise reasonable people get worked up about tinkering with the most important amendment to the constitution. There is a reason why the guarantee of freedom of speech was the first amendment. But I am getting ahead of myself.
You might be wondering about the title of this essay "America, the Borg". As some of you may know, the Borg were a race of beings portrayed in Star Trek: Then Next Generation. The Borg were a hostile race of half human/half machine creatures all networked together into a big collective brain. They flew around in giant cube shaped spacecraft "assimilating" every other race they encountered.
The Borg were extremely formidable in combat. You could do considerable damage to them the first time you attacked, but each time they learned from their mistakes and adapted their technology to become invulnerable to the attacker.
Just as the Borg were able to change to meet changing threats, America has a long history of this successful adaptation in the face of adversity. How does America do this?
America may be the most self-critical nation in the world. If you follow any mass media you can see the America is going to hell in a hand basket everyday. This is true when ever you look. Whether you look at something printed ten years ago or fifty years ago, it's the same. Since I live near Washington, DC I see protests constantly. This self-criticism is what drives change. We adapt to change better than any other nation.
Remember the Japanese? A few years ago they were going to cut us up and serve us over rice. There was a terrible outcry all across America about the poor state of American business, the poor quality of our products, and the sub-standard performance of our workers.
Where are the Japanese now? Over the last 15 years America changed. We are now experiencing the greatest economic expansion on record. Everything here got better because we discussed it with such heated urgency.
You know what makes this country so great? Flag burning. Flag burning is the ultimate expression of dissatisfaction with your country. It is this freedom to express your dissatisfaction that allows America to change and adapt and defeat its enemies. Did the Nazis allow flag burning? Did the Soviets? No, of course not and that is why they are history and we lead the world.
It's a pity that some veterans don't understand what they were fighting for. They think that they were fighting to defend their flag. That's wrong. They fought to defend their freedom to burn their flag. They fought to defend their freedom from those who would take this freedom away.
Maybe we need a new patriotic tradition. Maybe each Fourth of July we need to burn some flags just remind us that here in America we can.