COLUMN: What is patriotism?
When I first set out to write this piece, I started thinking about and researching specific national stereotypes in order to dissect and perhaps even debunk them.
American stereotypes were the focus. I wanted to know what the world thought of us, and, more importantly, what we thought of ourselves. Not surprisingly, it turned out to be no easy task. In fact it proved impossible.
Situated deep in the American collective consciousness are motives and ambitions so diverse, so complex, that it would take lifetimes to fully understand them all.
But the thing that seems to unite us all is our sense of unity. In a word: Patriotism.
A good American is, above all else, patriotic. It is a thing that transcends petty partisan politics at its best and at its worst ignites in us an explosion of zealotry that cannot be stopped.
To talk about patriotism in the abstract is cliché and easy: He is patriotic. She is patriotic. We are patriotic, and love our country to pieces.
To talk about it on the grounds of reality is a little more difficult. To do so one must ask the question: What is patriotic? That leads to an even greater, more important question: What is not patriotic?
A Briton named Chesterton addressed the question in his essay “The Defence of Patriotism.” He criticized the state of British patriotism, stating that most people’s love for their country is similar to a child’s love of jam, which is an emotion less like love and more like a jovial affection. He argues that one who proclaims love for the country but is uninterested in the country’s ethics is mislead.
It is the same in this country. Simply hanging an American flag on your porch does not make you a patriot; neither does putting a magnet on your car that reads “Support Our Troops.”
Patriotism is not about whether you vote for Obama, because he is for the middle class, or for Romney, because he wants to give tax breaks to those he deems job creators.
Your country demands more from you. Voting may be a tenet of good citizenship, but it certainly does not make you a patriot.
Anyone who claims to be influenced in their voting decision by anything other than selfish factors is a liar, and anyone who expects their leaders to solely bear the burden of fixing problems in their community is a fool.
Patriotism is about asking difficult questions and being prepared to deal with unwanted results. It is about accepting harsh criticism of government and policies, and seeing them as suggestions rather than attacks. It is about friendly conversation, civil disagreement and compromise.
But most importantly, patriotism is about normal citizens stepping up and becoming leaders when something is aching to be done. Gripes and groans about career politicians and bureaucrats from average citizens are more common than the red-faced pundits who whine on television, but the same people complaining are the ones who expect these incompetents to fix the problems in their communities.
In short, they look to their leaders rather than themselves. That’s not patriotic.
