Flag-burning.

[kz_blogorambling]

I don't get flagburning.

I don't understand why it gets people riled up, to see some hothead burning the flag. The act represents disrespect, supposedly, but how defiled do we really feel when the flag is burned? How much does that really hurt? The real "message" that I get is about the person lighting the match. Okay, someone is frustrated and mad at the U.S. And that particular someone loves symbolic acts. End of story. I don't find myself gasping and hungering to know what horrible wrong drove them to commit such a desperate act.

What I understand even less is the act itself. Why the hell would you want to burn a flag? I think it's only a certain class of people who are going to be infuriated by the act, and are those the people the flag-burners are really trying to reach? Seems to me there are a lot of potentially more effective things to do besides setting cloth on fire.

But I think there is a bigger issue here--I think some people feel quiet grassroots work isn't enough. Or at least, isn't showy enough. I honestly believe that some people would choose a loud angry demonstration (or a flagburning!) over a sensible meeting with a influential congressperson. And maybe that's not such a bad decision, although it sure as hell isn't the one I'd make.

FTR, I think legislation about flag-burning is a silly waste of time and paper, but it's not enough to make me freak out and change my voting patterns.

Comments

[anisoptera.livejournal.com]

And you are supposed to burn old and damaged flags. That is the proper way to dispose of them.

[postmoderngirl.livejournal.com]

I agree, mostly. Except that I am really infuriated by government attempts to ban flag-burning. When I was in CA, Sen. Feinsteinn was a proponent of the flag-burning amendment, and it got me riled up enough that I voted for the Green candidate (this was when I was a Democrat). My dad was similarly angry, so he voted for...the Republican candidate. My dad voted for a Republican! The horror! (He's a member of the Green Party now, too.)

[joeyhemlock.livejournal.com]

If they're trying to change the constitution to make flag-burning illegal, then they're limiting free speech, and that's reason enough for ME to change my voting patterns (although I wouldn't have to, since I'm wouldn't be voting for that guy regardless, in this case).

[davew0071.livejournal.com]

I don't want to see flag-burning banned, because, as Justice Kennedy pointed out, free speech is protected, even when it's an inarticulate grunt, and that the greatest thing about the Constitution is that it protects even those who don't respect it. I'm very big on the First Amendment.

That being said, I think it's stupid. Others obviously disagree, but the reason they are so bothered by it is the reason I think it's stupid.

The flag is a symbol, and, for some, a powerful one. Thus, they fight to "defend" it. And I'm not going to gainsay the loyalty that the flag has inspired. But still, it's just a symbol. If we changed it, or abolished it, the nation would still exist.

So, to destroy it, as a symbolic act, is fruitless. And, as you pointed out, doesn't accomplish much, not when the person could work with elected reps to effect the changes they wish to see.

To put it indelicately, flag burning, and flag-waving, for that matter, are acts of masturbation. They may make the participant feel good, but ultimately, they bear no fruit.