Love Needs No Protection; It Is Its

The Worker Who Knows The Cause Of His Misery, Who Understands The Make-up Of Our Iniquitous Social And Industrial System Can Do More For Himself And His Kind Than Christ And The Followers Of Christ Have Ever Done For Humanity; Certainly More Than Meek Patience, Ignorance, And Submission Have Done.

We Americans Claim To Be A Peace-loving People. We Hate Bloodshed; We Are Opposed To Violence. Yet We Go Into Spasms Of Joy Over The Possibility Of Projecting Dynamite Bombs From Flying Machines Upon Helpless Citizens. We Are Ready To Hang, Electrocute, Or Lynch Anyone, Who, From Economic Necessity, Will Risk His Own Life In The Attempt Upon That Of Some Industrial Magnate. Yet Our Hearts Swell With Pride At The Thought That America Is Becoming The Most Powerful Nation On Earth, And That She Will Eventually Plant Her Iron Foot On The Necks Of All Other Nations. Such Is The Logic Of Patriotism.

The People Are Urged To Be Patriotic ... By Sacrificing Their Own Children. Patriotism Requires Allegience To The Flag, Which Means Obedience And Readiness To Kill Father, Mother, Brother, Sister.

What I Prized Most Was Freedom, Freedom To Do My Work, To Give Myself Spontaneously And Not Out Of Duty Or By Command. I Could Not Submit To Such Demands; Rather Would I Choose The Path Of A Homeless Wanderer; Yes, Even Go Without Love.

What Is Patriotism? Is It Love Of One's Birthplace, The Place Of Childhood's Recollections And Hopes, Dreams And Aspirations? Is It The Place Where, In Childlike Naïveté, We Would Watch The Passing Clouds, And Wonder Why We, Too, Could Not Float So Swiftly? The Place Where We Would Count The Milliard Glittering Stars, Terror-stricken Lest Each One "an Eye Should Be," Piercing The Very Depths Of Our Little Souls?