I've never really been a fan of the word "patriotism." To me, it is very commercial--not only here in the U.S., but in other countries I've visited, as well--and it therefore has a tendency, when left fuzzy-around-the-edges and ungrounded in specifics, to invite folks to turn off their brains, put a flag pin on their lapel, and think that makes them "good people." The notion of what in the act of doing that culturally-motivated activity makes them "good" seems to float away with the breeze because the in-built "feel-good" aspect of patriotism trumps the specific, historical reasons why we ought to appreciate our country (and those reasons most certainly ought not be reduced to talking about wars and voting, though those are two of the many aspects we ought to appreciate).
Patriotism also has a tendency to morph into an ugly brand of nationalism--it tends to morph into jingoism. When combined with commercialism, this scenario suggests that questioning the decisions of one's leaders is, at times, "unpatriotic," which I consider quite dangerous in certain instances, such as our country's odd, zombie-like march toward the present Iraq War. In that instance, specific reasons why the necessary war in Afghanistan ought to be augmented by another, more questionable war in Iraq were not demanded--at least not by most Americans--because the country was caught in a mind-numbingly commercial, pseudo-"patriotic" vortex in which "Support Our Troops" became synonymous with "Support the Iraq War." A lot of us were high on "patriotism," but the real patriots, as far as I'm concerned, were our troops, as well as those individuals who found specific, precise (and not general, emotion-fueled) reasons for or against our involvement in Iraq, and spoke out about it.
To me, "patriotism" is a good word if and only if it means that one appreciates the past of one's home country--which means both the glorious triumphs and the bad stumbles of that country--and applies this appreciation to the present, while planning for the future. (In order to appreciate one's country, one must understand all of its overarching history, and not simply cherry-pick generic slogans, such as "freedom," which is so general it could mean anything, and "Support Our Troops," which is a commercial construct that means several things, among which actually supporting our troops is far, far down the list.) A "patriot" is someone who praises his or her country if and when its leaders (and people) act in intelligent ways that further that country's founding ideals, and criticizes his or her country if and when its leaders (and/or people) act in ways contrary to this notion.
A patriot, therefore, not only accepts certain good qualities of his or her country, but demands that flabby, unthinking, unconscientious maneuvers--whether on the part of the country's leaders or people or both--be attended to in ways that, from a U.S. perspective, help us to form a "more perfect union." (One must, of course, recognize that perfection is an impossibility, but that does not preclude becoming "more perfect," which often means "less disingenuous" than at any given time.) It is therefore the case that blind allegiance to a particular administration's viewpoints, or to culturally-motivated commercial trends, or to what the Joneses are doing down the block, is not a display of patriotism; in fact, it is a display of the exact opposite--it's an intellectually lazy display of anti-patriotism on the part of people who have been duped into thinking that they don't need to examine more closely what it is they are pledging allegiance to (whether they know it or not).
In the interests of celebrating our nation's 232nd birthday (July 4th, 1776 to July 4th, 2008), I will now provide short articles (printed in TIME magazine's July 7, 2008 issue) on the meaning of patriotism from both Senator McCain and Senator Obama. Though I admire portions of Senator McCain's article, I prefer Senator Obama's, because he grounds his sense of American history with an analysis of a very specific, concrete international example, whereas Senator McCain tends to pile on the American romanticism, which I suppose is okay, but grounds it only in generalized lists ("...the Little League, the Boy Scouts, the Girl Scouts, the Salvation Army..."). This may or may not have the unintended side-effect of making what he says a bit overly-generic, which might invite people to circumvent the necessary critical examination of what American "patriotism" really means. If anything, we need critical examination of our country (both positive and negative) now more than ever.
Here are the short TIME magazine articles:
"A Cause Greater Than Self," by John McCain
Patriotism means more than holding your hand over your heart during the national anthem. It means more than walking into a voting booth every two or four years and pulling a lever. Patriotism is a love and a duty, a love of country expressed in good citizenship.
Patriotism and the citizenship it requires should motivate the conduct of public officials, but it also thrives in the communal spaces where government is absent, anywhere Americans come together to govern their lives and their communities — in families, churches, synagogues, museums, symphonies, the Little League, the Boy Scouts, the Girl Scouts, the Salvation Army or the VFW. They are the habits and institutions that preserve democracy. They are the ways, small and large, we come together as one country, indivisible, with freedom and justice for all. They are the responsible exercise of freedom and are indispensable to the proper functioning of a democracy. Patriotism is countless acts of love, kindness and courage that have no witness or heraldry and are especially commendable because they are unrecorded.
The patriot must not just accept, but in his or her own way protect the ideals that gave birth to our country: to stand against injustice and for the rights of all and not just one's own interests. The patriot honors the duties, the loyalties, the inspirations and the habits of mind that bind us together as Americans.
We are the heirs and caretakers of freedom — a blessing preserved with the blood of heroes down through the ages. One cannot go to Arlington Cemetery and see name upon name, grave upon grave, row upon row, without being deeply moved by the sacrifice made by those young men and women.
And those of us who live in this time, who are the beneficiaries of their sacrifice, must do our smaller and less dangerous part to protect what they gave everything to defend, lest we lose our own love of liberty.
Love of country is another way of saying love of your fellow countrymen — a truth I learned a long time ago in a country very different from ours. Patriotism is another way of saying service to a cause greater than self-interest.
If you find faults with our country, make it a better one. If you are disappointed with the mistakes of government, join its ranks and work to correct them. I hope more Americans would consider enlisting in our armed forces. I hope more would consider running for public office or working in federal, state and local governments. But there are many public causes where your service can make our country a stronger, better one than we inherited.
The good citizen and patriot knows happiness is greater than comfort, more sublime than pleasure. The cynical and indifferent know not what they miss. For their mistake is an impediment not only to our progress as a civilization but to their happiness as individuals.
"A Faith in Simple Dreams," by Barack Obama
When I was a child, I lived overseas for a time with my mother. And one of my earliest memories is of her reading to me the first lines of the Declaration of Independence, explaining how its ideas applied to every American, black and white and brown alike. She taught me that those words, and the words of the United States Constitution, protected us from the brutal injustices we witnessed other people suffer during those years abroad.
I've been reminded of this recently as I've followed the brutal injustice surrounding Zimbabwe's so-called elections. For weeks, the opposition party and its supporters have been silently hunted, tortured and killed. They have been dragged from their homes in the middle of the night and strangled while their children watched. The wife of a newly elected mayor was so badly beaten that her own brother only recognized her by the skirt she wore on the day she was killed. Even voters suspected of disloyalty to the President have been herded together and thrashed for hours, all for the simple crime of casting their ballot.
We are a nation of strong and varied convictions and beliefs. We argue and debate our differences vigorously and often. But when all is said and done, we still come together as one people and pledge our allegiance not just to a place on a map or a certain leader but to the words my mother read to me years ago: "that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."
That is the true genius of America — a faith in simple dreams, an insistence on small miracles. It's the idea that we can tuck in our children at night and know that they are fed and clothed and safe from harm; that we can say what we think, write what we think, without hearing a sudden knock on the door; that we can have an idea and start our own business without paying a bribe; that we can participate in the political process without fear of retribution; and that our votes will be counted.
For me, it is the love and defense of these ideals that constitutes the true meaning of patriotism. They are ideals that do not belong to any particular party or group of people but call each of us to service and sacrifice for the sake of our common good.
I write this knowing that if previous generations had not taken up this call, I would not be where I am today. As a young man of mixed race, without a firm anchor in any community, without even a father's steadying hand, this essential American ideal — that our destinies are not written before we are born — has defined my life. And it is the source of my profound love for this country: because with a mother from Kansas and a father from Kenya, I know that stories like mine could only happen in America.
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