Redefining Patriotism
Okay, I'll admit it. I have become patriotic. A word that just a few months ago I would never use to describe myself. In fact, I would most likely grimace at being labeled patriotic and deny such an accusation. The word evoked the taste of slimy Fourth of July potato salad and conjured up images of unquestioning citizens waving American flags. But as I've watched the events of the current election unfold, I have found a new respect, even love, for my country - redefining how I see patriotism.
For the past eight years, I have felt powerless - unable to change or challenge the decisions of my government. As a citizen I came to the conclusion that nothing I could say or do would ever impact the choices of the Bush Administration. And this deeply discouraged me. How could I be a patriot when I fundamentally disagreed with the actions of my country and felt unheard by my leaders?
Somehow I had accepted someone else's notion that patriotism meant blindly endorsing the decisions of our leaders. That the word "patriot" is reserved only for those who automatically supported our country's invasion of Iraq, who were not bothered as the government stripped away citizen's constitutional freedoms. But this is not a patriot.
Over the last few months I have discovered my own definition of patriotism as my feelings of powerlessness have begun to shift. With the current presidential elections, I have an opportunity to transform the country by putting in a leader who represents my beliefs and opinions. Being able to finally enact change inspires and motivates me. Right now I feel part of democracy in action, a concerned citizen passionately fighting for the future of America. I am a patriot... and in no way does it evoke the taste of slimy potato salad.
Every four years, our country allows citizens this period of change - where we have the power to elect our next leader, choosing a new future for our nation. It is the revolutionary idea of giving power to the people that inspired our forefathers (and mothers) to break away from England. It is an idea that changed the world. And now, seeing it work successfully inspires me to actually call myself a patriot.
The election may not be what inspires you, but each of us can find something that we love about America that transcends its imperfections and leaders, each of us can live by our own definitions of patriotism.
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It's not really an issue of pride, and its merit or lack thereof, but an issue of belonging, fulfillment, direction. Of having a voice and of being able to effect the change that for so long seemed unattainable because of mass laziness, stupidity, avidity, or self-delusion. Watching the MSM fall so thoroughly from its intended role as accountability for our nation and leadership was a huge blow to our sense that America belonged to the people, not the politicians, and could harbor hope as readily as it permitted foolishness and selfishness to govern us.
We were in a time period when soldiers were lambasted for not wearing flag pins by the right and for being of the military by the left; and now, it seems as if soldiers are being honored for serving our country and respected as human beings, fellow Americans who have sacrificed to make our nation the free and great place where the people had a say rather than being subverted by the egos and powerlust of our leadership.
It feels like we, the people have the power, to whatever extent, and that is more than enough reason for informed patriotism, acknowledging and trying to repair faults while loving our good qualities and potential, that makes us glad patriots when before the term had been relegated to those too blind and unquestioning to be more than yes-man destroying everything we should stand for.
" When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross." -Sinclair Lewis
It is an illusion that one has power over the government, rather like the idea that you own the Navy's aircraft carriers since they are owned by the citizens and you are a citizen. Pure illusion. The treasonous Supreme Court gave the already powerful corporations much greater power when they called money a form of speech protected by the First Amendment. The American state is now running a world empire, thugs protecting the global corporations and their CEOs living in imperial splendor. (cont'd)
(from above) Meanwhile, all over the US, there are tens of millions living in aching poverty. Housed in dilapidated hovels, ancient travel trailers, or leaky old mobile homes, they don't have health care until they get severely ill, jobs are intermittent at best, and they struggle for food the last week or two of the month. Many can't afford much heat, and few have air conditioning or even swamp coolers.
The lower working class with full time jobs fare little better. If they have a car they pay high prices for gas and maintenance, and insurance eats up much of their surplus income. They have to eat cheap food, high in calories and low in nutrition. Often relying on medicaid, they have to pay upwards of two weeks' pay before the medicaid kicks in, money they can't afford, so they also lack health care. Often working lots of overtime or two jobs to make ends meet, they have little time for much else. Their suffering is almost as great as those at the bottom.
I don't love America. America is an abstraction. I love the people I work with, whom I meet on a daily basis living humble lives of struggle and desperation, who have been forgotten by the empire. I despise those who oppress them, the schools that teach them they are losers, the police who harass them because they can, the wealthy who stole the government from them, the bureaucrats who look down their noses at them.
"...I don't love America. America is an abstraction...."
A quibble---One can also "love" what the abstraction is suppose to stand for: freedom, opportunity, decency (not prudishness), rule of law, etc.
I don't disagree that one can love an abstraction. Many people love many abstractions. It's just such an absurd abuse of a reification, like worshiping an icon, burning prayer cloths so God will receive the prayer and grant it, etc. You can love your dildo as a real man, but no matter how strongly you believe, its just a dildo and your imagination. Pygmalion was a myth. It is contrary to critical thinking.
beyond that, America is far too mixed a symbol for me to love. It is like loving the police. While I like some things police do, I detest other things they do. I suspect there is some deep-psychological disturbance involved in "loving" an abstraction like America, with the good qualities being embraced while the bad qualities are projected onto the "other," the enemy du jour (communist, terrorist, Jew, Muslim, liberal, Goldstein, etc).
LuLu is one smart kid. For only being 15 yrs. old, she's capable of challenging preconceived ideas and reaching new conclusions. That ability is the one true hallmark of the maturing process. As frightening or exciting as that concept may be to some people, it is what separates us from being sheeple.
A "Liberal Patriot" is as silly to contemplate as a " friendly alligator".
Neither can be reconciled with reality.
Saying that "liberal" and "patriot" are oxymoronic is called Manichaean paranoia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manichaean_paranoia
What a great question to ask the candidates. What is your definition of patriotism? I look forward to the debates.
We need the brand of patriotism bravely displayed everyday by true patriots like Arianna Huffington and Keith Olbermann.
The most patriotic thing a person can do right now is to return democracy, and democratic values into our political leaders.
Ms. Mickelson,
The simple fact that you now have invested yourself in the process is patriotic. I truly believe that there are members of the current administration who would argue that this country assumed the moral high-ground for over 50 years simply as a tactic to defeat Communism. As with most of their circular arguments, they are most certainly wrong. That dubya and company would forsake basic tenets of the constitution simply because they felt limited by such rules puts them in defiance of the very oaths they all took when assuming office. This willingness to subvert the very foundation of this country does in no way may them hyper-patriots; in my opinion it makes them traitors. I appreciate that you Ms. Mickelson do not identify yourself as an American in this mold; in so doing you have not only defined what it is to be patriotic, but have become a Patriot yourself--bravo.
Respectfully submitted,
Francis Jens Erickson
" My Country right or wrong. When right to keep right, when wrong to make right". Senator somebody
Patriotism is easy to define.
1) Respect for the Constitution (You know, the set of values we all share and agree on)--
2) Respect for the American people. (You know, all of them: not just rich white people)--
easy.
Any idiot can have flag stuck in his/her car window. And no--you don't have to want to kill people in other countries to be a patriot.
no respect for a country that has no respect for its citizens.
Thank you aceholiday for this comment. When certain citizens are treated a certain way in America, how can you expect them to be patrotic toward this government. Only the people who have benefitted from the evildoers don't want to understand or care to, but, I wonder if it was their people how would they feel.
Great post!
I have half a mind to become a red-blooded flag-waving Democrat!
I have long felt that the Democrats' only hope of ending Republican political dominance, (as well as their self-proclaimed monopoly on patriotism and its meaning), would be for The Democrats to reframe the moral high ground by emphasizing public unity and an inclusiveness of purpose that would extend beyond party divisions. Key to this would be the effort to boldly redefine the current understanding of what it means to be a patriot along lines of shared citizenship and joining together to achieve our common aspirations. I sincerely hope that's where the Dems are trying to go now.
"Shared citizenship" and "common aspirations" alone are not sufficient to establish a new, morally grounded definition of patriotism. In our recent history, a militarist, plutocratic regime has implanted in the citizenry a sense of shared citizenship and common aspirations that accord with their own nefarious purposes. What is needed, rather, is to inspire in the citizens a sense of loyalty to the ideals upon which this country was founded, as expressed in the opening paragraph of our Declaration of Independence, embedded in the Constitution, and represented by the best leaders of our historical heritage. That would mark the richest and most meaningful definition of patriotism and would provide us with a counterfoil to those who define patriotism as unquestioning loyalty to the militaristic and imperialistic policies pursued by the ruling regime. We need to show that this conception of patriotism is, in fact, a betrayal of our Constitution used as a pretext to achieve goals that are ultimately detrimental to this country, its people, and the survival of the human race. True patriotism must always include a willingness to carefully scrutiinize the policies of one's country to ensure that they live up to its highest ideals.
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Posted May 17, 2008 | 03:06 PM (EST)