Has America Lost The Right To Our Patriotism?

[AuntiePinko]

Dear Auntie Pinko,

I used to be patriotic, now I’m not. What’s the point in caring about a country that just said it’s okay to torture people? When they added that to all the other horrible things that America has done in the last six years it was the last straw. The rest of the world thinks we’re shit and I’m starting to agree with them.

The worst part about it was that people didn’t seem to notice or care that the Congress was talking about making torture okay, and when it did pass, again hardly anyone noticed or cared. Yes, there were other things in the torture bill, and they cleverly avoided using the word “torture.” But they gave the government permission to do horrible things to human beings, things that can’t be called anything but torture by any reasonable person. And I’m sure the government will be very careful not to rub people’s noses in the fact that we torture people, so that my fellow-citizens will easily be able to ignore that and get on with watching “American Idol.”

Auntie, is it right to be patriotic about a country that does this?

Stephanie
Escanaba, MI


Dear Stephanie,

You’ll have to use your own judgment about whether it’s right to feel patriotism when your country is doing terrible things. It’s a matter of feeling, and, as with all such matters, there is no moral absolute. Even seasoned ethicists are wary of venturing into the territory of feelings. It is how we act that can be analyzed and judged right or wrong, based on many factors.

And in America, we have (or had, until Mr. Bush and his cabal of rogue lawyers started messing with things,) a very clear standard of what is “wrong” when it comes to acting against your country. Passing information about military secrets is wrong. Getting on a plane and going overseas to pick up a gun and fight against American troops is wrong. Betraying information or people to the enemy in a war is wrong. Until recently, that left a very large area in which people feeling angry or disillusioned about America could express their feelings without it being wrong.

The current Administration appears to be attempting to narrow that area and make large parts of it inaccessible. It’s important that we do not allow them to do so. We must continue to criticize our government and its actions. We must continue to organize and agitate and pass on information in an attempt to awaken others to the danger we perceive. Being intimidated into silence or complacency is the wrong response for an American who wants a good reason to be patriotic.

However, we also need to keep a little perspective. America has other terrible, shameful things in its history. Imagine living in a nation where slavery was legal? Where the government seriously attempted genocide against whole nations, and nearly succeeded? Iraq is not the first war of choice undertaken by an American President, nor is it the first time American troops have been responsible for appalling casualties and atrocities among innocent civilians. If we are to go by our country’s history of actions, Americans have no justification for pride or patriotism through large periods of our nation’s existence.

But love of country, like love of family, is not subject to logic or historical analysis. We love America for many reasons, some of which make no sense at all, viewed objectively. America is many things to the 300 million or so people who live here, and each person’s feelings about our country are based on our experiences here, our family and community as well as our nation, and dozens of other factors. I think you do love America, Stephanie, because it’s hard for something we don’t love to cause us such heart-wrenching pain.

No, we can’t be proud of America’s actions today. But there are things we can be proud of, things in our past that have exemplified the ideals that define our nation. And we can be proud of the future America our children and grandchildren will build if we lay the foundations today. We can be proud of the actions of thousands of individual Americans who work quietly for justice and peace all over the world.

We can be proud of ourselves as we work to restore the America we love, too. It can certainly be done. We have overcome horrible governments that have done horrible things in the past, we can do it again. Never give up hope! When you feel overwhelmed, spend some time deliberately looking for the good things— people working to restore communities devastated by pollution and natural disasters. People coming together to organize safe places for young people. The creativity of our artists, the beauty of our natural surroundings, the freedoms we still enjoy. Spend time with family and friends, because health, family, and friends are our real wealth.

Keep working for change, Stephanie, and thanks for asking Auntie Pinko!

[Porcupine]

1. I wish I could agree. America is a land of idiots with guns.

We are collectively everybodies crazy fat neighbor who lives in the big house next door but wanders over to your woodpile in boxer shorts with a revolver strapped on to get his morning fire going. Saying..."Wha'cha gonna do 'bout it anyway; my cousins the sherrif."

America is the guy who lets his cows into your cornfeild. His 25 year old no-job kid just got your 13 year old daughter pregnant and they deny it all the way.

America stiffs the neighborhood kid who mows his lawn paying him a third of the agreed price.

America is the guy who trys to sell you lumber while you're watching your barn burn.

America is the couple that lives in the McMansion and lets their aged parents live in a leaky Airstream at the back of the lot; in New Hampshire.

America thinks that playing football automatically makes you a straight A student. Ditto having really rich parents who bankroll the team.

America is the real estate agent who "owns" 34 properties but actually has equity enough to buy one outright. His buddy from high school football manages the savings and loan holding the mortgages.

America drives 35 mph in school zones at 8 am.

America has more people in jail per capita than Communist China and executes more as a percentage of population.

I could go on all day. For many of us this country is a prison. We can't leave so we try to make it better. Claiming it's ok just doesnt' wash with us.

[Vidar]

12. You've summed it up quite well. Perhaps an upraised finger should

be added to the flag.

[marmar]

2. The "idea" of America is great....

But the country we live in does not, and never has, lived up to that idea. I suppose our charge is to get it as close to that idea as we can, meaning we've got to start by getting rid of a government that's peeing all over that idea right now.

[dave420]

3. Patriotism

Is a terrible concept. It blinds people to what their country is doing. It's not good for anything, but causing problems. Patriotism creates the idea of "them" and "us", which never leads to anything good.

[Mr_Jefferson_24]

6. True. It is primarily a propaganda device...

...used by those who wish to wage war for profit.

[dave420]

9. It has no place in decent society.

It can be too easily perverted to do harm. Any blind faith is bad, be it in God, your country, Dr. Pepper, whatever.

[Maryland Liberal]

4. Winkapedia about Patriotism

Patriotism denotes positive and supportive attitudes to a 'fatherland' (Latin patria), by individuals and groups. The 'fatherland' can be a region or a city, but patriotism usually applies to a nation and/or a nation-state. Patriotism covers such attitudes as: pride in its achievements and culture, the desire to preserve its character, and identification with other members of the nation. In the modern world, patriotism is closely associated with nationalism, and is often used as a synonym for it. Strictly speaking, nationalism is an ideology - but it often promotes patriotic attitudes as desirable and appropriate. (Both nationalist political movements, and patriotic expression, may be negative towards other people's 'fatherland').

Patriotism has connotations of self-sacrifice, implying that the individual should place the interests of the nation, and common good of its political community, above their personal and group interests. In wartime,the sacrifice may extend to their own life. In this context, patriotism is seen as an explanation for the apparent suspension of the instinct for self-preservation, which implies that no-one would voluntarily serve in a wartime army.

Patriotism has other ethical connotations: it implies that the fatherland (however defined) is a moral standard or moral value in itself. The expression my country right or wrong - perhaps a misquotation of the American naval officer Stephen Decatur, but also attributed to Carl Schurz - is the extreme form of this belief.

The primary implication of patriotism in ethics is that a person has more moral duties to fellow members of the national community, than to non-members. In social science terminology, this doctrine is a form of discrimination. Criticism of patriotism in ethics is mainly directed at this moral preference: the view (in ethics) that moral duties apply equally to all humans is known as cosmopolitanism. In practice, many patriots would see treason rather than cosmopolitanism as the 'opposite of patriotism'

[Fiendish Thingy]

5. I think I feel more "patriotic" now, than have at any time

in my life, mainly because I fear that the constitutional rights that I treasure, but have perhaps taken for granted, are gradually disintegrating.

Thanks Auntie, for a positive column highlighting patriotism from a liberal/progressive perspective...

It has been my focus on family and community that has kept me (barely) sane these past six years...

Nevertheless, I can't completely eliminate the pain, anguish and guilt I feel knowing that, at the very least, I contribute to these horrors and injustices through my tax dollars, without the honest representation that comes from verifiable elections with integrity. It is because of this, and the fact that I am not brave enough to face the consequences of not paying my taxes, that I am in the final stages of deciding whether or not to emigrate to avoid paying taxes that support illegal wars and torture...

[DeeDeeNY]

7. Let's not forget

Dissent is the highest form of patriotism.

[Mark01757]

8. Remember that patriotism is...

devoted love, support, and defense of one's country. Mr. Bush (I STILL can't call him President) uses it in a way such that many people are now considered not "patriotic." Don't let the Republican administration's reinterpretation of patriotism (anyone who disagrees with them) cloud your vision. If you love this country and feel that the current cabal in Washington is changing what we know as the USA, then fighting to defend the real USA is very much patriotism in its definition.

[VioletLake]

10. I like what Cindy Sheehan wrote on the subject.

Matriotism
By Cindy Sheehan

Then there's Samuel Johnson's astute remark that "Patriotism is the last refuge of scoundrels."

Edit: added the word "astute."

[kdpeters]

11. That's perfect!!

Matriotism. I'm going to use it.