Accident Prone Pilots

Considering the scores of pilots I've met, I think there may be at
least some statistical significance.

I can personally attest to this fact -- and I've probably met more
pilots than everyone else on this group *combined*. Pilots as a group
are VERY patriotic, and with good cause.

By and large, pilots are successful people, and America has been good
to (and for) them. And, of course, we are free to fly to our heart's
content here.

Upon reflection, I can only name one openly unpatriotic pilot that I've
ever met. He's never had to work a day in his life, flies a brand new
Beech twin, and -- because he's always had everything handed to him on
a silver platter -- he believes that America is terribly unfair. He
unknowingly wears irony well.

He reminds me very much of Ted Kennedy, actually.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Jose wrote in news:0VeOg.1079$GR.474
@newssvr29.news.prodigy.net:

Being patriotic is being =devoted= to one's country, right or wrong,
above all other countries, and to a high priority in life (not
necessarily "above all else", but in that direction).

No. That's being a Fanatic. True that in some countries the distinction is
difficult to identify.

From Webster's Dictionary

Patriot:
"One who loves his or her country and supports its authority and
interests"


As pointed out upthread, one can love one's country and despise their
government. This isn't being patriotic in my country. Howver, one can
love one's government, while not being very hot on the country itself
(the land, the people, the economy...). That person is patriotic.

You don't have to agree with the policies, or love the state of the
economy, or be so conservative as to be uninterested in change in order to
be patriotic. But typically if you are not in favor of the current
government, it's probably because you don't believe that it is acting in
the best interests of the country, which in some ways may indicate that
you are in fact a patriot. In fact, to love one's government as it
destroy's one's country might be considered anti-patriotic (if there is
such a thing).

To equate "patriotic" with "loving one's country" is simplistic at best.

True. You have to love the country, but you also have to respect the
government authority. That doesn't mean you have to love the government,
or even agree with their policies or actions. In fact, the American
Revolutionists are said to be Patriots because they believed that the
British government (the authority at the time) was not serving the best
interests of their country that they loved. So they acted upon it and took
back their government and created a system of government that they saw
fit.

Patriot:
"One who loves his or her country and supports its authority and
interests"

Well, the "and supports its authority" is the piece I'm getting at.

In fact, the American
Revolutionists are said to be Patriots because they believed that the
British government (the authority at the time) was not serving the best
interests of their country that they loved. So they acted upon it and took
back their government and created a system of government that they saw
fit.

They may have been Patriots, but not to England.

Jose
--
There are more ways to skin a cat than there are cats.
for Email, make the obvious change in the address.

Jose wrote in
:

Patriot:
"One who loves his or her country and supports its authority and
interests"

Well, the "and supports its authority" is the piece I'm getting at.

You can support an authority even if you don't agree it's right. And you can
support an authority without being satisfied with the conditions that have
come about under its authority. Of course, the only way for someone to
ACTUALLY be an authority is if most of the people support him. So sometimes,
authorities change. Today in the US that happens through a process of
elections. However in many countries it comes about in other ways - war,
coups, death of a Monarch, etc...

In fact, the American
Revolutionists are said to be Patriots because they believed that the
British government (the authority at the time) was not serving the best
interests of their country that they loved. So they acted upon it and
took back their government and created a system of government that they
saw fit.

They may have been Patriots, but not to England.

"Supports it's authority and interests" - both...

They were Patriots to their country, not to their Occupiers. The people
decided that it was no longer in the best interests of the American Colonies
to continue to allow the British Government to act as the authority, so they
created a new authority and overturned the old one. They were Patriots to the
authority that they believed to be in the interests of their country.

It's all about perspective.

Marco Leon writes:

So people shouldn't take any pride in the things they accomplish?

I don't think pride is very useful.

I'm not sure I understand your point. Yes, too much pride is bad but
that goes for most things in life.

The effects of pride are more bad than good. In aviation, accidents
have been caused by pride and ego.

--
Transpose mxsmanic and gmail to reach me by e-mail.

You can support an authority even if you don't agree it's right.

This is true.

They were Patriots to their country, not to their Occupiers.

They created a new country. They were patriotic to that, and traiterous
to the old. But the old still was The Authority. Just like the FAA (to
bring this back on topic) and its dress code (to bring it to thread,
albeit a different one).

Yes, it's perspective.

Jose
--
"We turned sixty thousand zealous nationalists into sixty thousand
patriotic citizens by saying that's what we did" --- "Acutal SHO"
for Email, make the obvious change in the address.

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
ps.com...
He reminds me very much of Ted Kennedy, actually.

Oh, so he's a drunk also? How many women has he managed to kill so far?

Marco,

Ummm, correct me if I'm wrong, but don't you live outside of the US? If
you do, then your statement is hardly surprising.


How? I live in a country, too.

--
Thomas Borchert (EDDH)

Recently, Jose posted:

I haven't met a pilot yet
that doesn't love this country.
Yes, but that's not the same as "being patriotic".

What an odd thing to say.

At the core, what else really goes into being patriotic?

Being patriotic is being =devoted= to one's country, right or wrong,
above all other countries, and to a high priority in life (not
necessarily "above all else", but in that direction).

Well, as a US citizen, I disagree with your above statement. ;-)

As I see it, to be a patriotic US citizen *requires* that one work to
correct the "wrong" and not to accept or justify it; patriotic citizens
should be devoted to changing those things that are "wrong", and to do
otherwise is to fail the underlying principles of our constitution.

Neil

I like your definiton. But it raises more questions. Do we consider
someone patriotic if their perception of "wrong" is different than
ours?
--
Gene Seibel
Gene & Sue's Aeroplanes - http://pad39a.com/gene/planes.html
Because we fly, we envy no one.



Neil Gould wrote:
As I see it, to be a patriotic US citizen *requires* that one work to
correct the "wrong" and not to accept or justify it; patriotic citizens
should be devoted to changing those things that are "wrong", and to do
otherwise is to fail the underlying principles of our constitution.

Neil