It is July 4. Not only that, but it is the 250th July 4th for the United States. It seems like somehow this day should have a special feeling. I am afraid for me it does not. It seems more like the feeling I get now when I see a giant pickup with a couple of giant flags or a flag lifted high by a crane the workers have abandoned for the weekend. It is a feeling of annoyance based on a sense that others are calling attention to themselves just because they want attention. It is certainly not a sense of patriotism. Who gets to appropriate patriotism anyway?
I have a sense that suggests patriotism has become contested political property rather than a shared civic virtue. Patriotism seems associated with selfishness and elitism.
We seem unable to draw a distinction between patriotism and nationalism
Patriotism generally means:
- affection for one’s country
- commitment to its ideals
- willingness to improve it
Nationalism often means:
- superiority over other nations
- loyalty to the nation regardless of its actions
- defining insiders and outsiders
Just what in this unique time would we argue are our ideals? Are we about equality, assuring that all are brought along to experience health, respect, and opportunities? Do we honestly identify and reward merit beyond the advantages of sex, skin color, inheritance, and unique circumstances each of us did not create for ourselves?
Claiming greatness is more than a slogan. Patriotism belongs to citizens not parties.
Perhaps patriotism should be measured less by slogans than by commitment to democratic institutions and the constitutional principles that allow citizens to disagree peacefully. Patriotism is about political efforts to move everyone, not just those in your political party forward. Perhaps patriotism should be used to label those willing to improve the lot of others rather than accumulate more for themselves. With accelerating income inequality, a disregard for the facts of science, challenges to the health of the environment, and the lack of basic necessities throughout the world, there are plenty of opportunities for contributions that could be labeled as the pursuit of greatness, but we seem to have become distracted by the glitter of gold and the exercise of unequal power to dominate others.
The label of patriot should not be self-assigned.
I apologize to those who follow me for writing about other topics. Sometimes, higher principles and more pressing needs must be addressed at a specific point in time.