One of my favorite Segal videos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5GEIk70r42I
And a nice jab by John Oliver;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTTThhkkQC8
If I live to be 100 years old, I will never, ever understand the philosophy that conflates an inanimate object like a flag with a whole country's freedoms, ideals, way of life, and everything they hold sacred. "Disrespecting the flag" is just a wholly alien and frankly disturbing concept to me. It's some cult shit.
But as long as it keeps making conservatives angry at black people, then it doesn't matter. It's working and that's a good thing.
It's because you (them) base your value on the categorization or group you're in. You're this because you're part of that group, I am that because I am part of that group. That's what counts. It's not who you are. Fuck that. It's who and what you're born into. Classic tribal humans. It's always been like that.
It's deeply tied into the idea of the self, and you see it every fucking day when people try to explain to others what they are about through association like association trumps reason, logic and arguments. "As a feminist", "As an American", "As a mother", "as a democrat", "as a gamer". All of this shit, is just ways to try and explain who and what you are about through a lens of grouping and constructs.
People on all sides fall into this trap because they want to be understood, more than they want to understand. They want to fist their speil down others throats to reaffirm their own ideology to make sense of what they need to make sense of to avoid cognitive dissonance. Stuck in a hamster wheel. Most people here on GAF fall into it all the time too. There are many subconcious way where we fuck up. And it seems to happen exponentially more when we are upset. Because our own emotional baggage and bias weighs down our rationality.
Which is a problem in a world where your personal experience is supposed to mean more than facts. Like when people say "I just feel like those people aren't American", "I just feel like most of them are racist", I feel, I feel, I feel, I feel, instead of I think.
And thats the major level of hypocrisy. For all their bitching over outrage culture, anti-PC conservatives sure get their panties twisted when someone disrespects them. They should take their own advice and celebrate their countrymens right to burn their flag, disrespect the anthem, use symbols and slogans they don't like.
They should practice what they preach. And think deeply on a personal level as to why it upsets them that someone is anti-patriotic. Observe what people are cynical about, and you'll often find what they are lacking.