Patriotism (Or, American History for a 1st Grader)

patrioticconservative:

Patriotism is what has fueled our country for hundreds of years.

Patriotism is what has united this country for hundreds of years.

Patriotism is what has driven men and women to take up arms and defend this country for hundreds of year.

Patriotism has been felt by each and every true American heart for hundreds of years.

Patriotism in America has come from our love of her and her greatness for hundreds of years.

And now we want to turn our back on Patriotism? On our love of this country? We want to let go of that which this country was built on and has been at the heart of every American for hundreds of years? We want to make it politically correct to say that America is not the greatest country on earth? Why? Why should we lie? America is the greatest country on earth, and has been since we became a country over two-hundred years ago. America has always stood up for justice and still stands for justice. When disaster strikes we are there. When millions are oppressed we are there. When others call we are there. People come to America as immigrants, it happens but is not common for Americans to leave to live somewhere else, because people want to live in America because of the opportunities she holds and the better life she offers. This is the greatest country on earth, and I will stand by that until my dying day.

God Bless America.

I’m an American who wants to leave this country. Not because I don’t love it, but because America as it ought to be if it were true to its values is dying all around me. Deism is perhaps the greatest religious tradition to exist. I doubt most Americans have even heard that word before, but it was the intellectually critical version of Christianity many of this nation’s founding fathers believed in.

I don’t have a problem with people who love America, but I have a problem with people who won’t look realistically at this country’s history and realize all the sordid things we’ve done. Have other countries done worse? Sure, but I’m not interested in comparing us to other countries. I’m interested in a realistic analysis of America’s many flaws and considering what we might do to right them. THAT is patriotism. Uncritical devotion to the state is perhaps the least patriotic thing anybody could do. What you believe sounds more like the kind of radical nationalism popular in late 19th century Europe.

I can’t imagine a person who knew anything at all about Europe between 1776 and 1914 making the claim that this was the greatest country on Earth. I’m pretty sure Britain outlawed slavery and granted women’s suffrage before we did.

Justice? Was America standing up for justice towards African-Americans between 1776 and 1964 (or 48 if you want the start of civil rights legislation). Did we stand up for justice towards Native Americans EVER? Did we stand up for justice towards Japanese citizens during WWII? America has not ALWAYS stood up for justice, and when it has done so, it has done so in its own political interest (I’m not condemning the practice, but I won’t lie to myself about the supposed virtue of American foreign policy).

“When millions are oppressed, we are there.” Tell that to all of the aforementioned groups, whose oppression we are solely responsible for. Then tell that to the people of Vietnam (I don’t agree with communism or its dictatorial 20th-century Soviet-inspired doppelganger, but an intensive bombing campaign probably wasn’t improving anybody’s well-being, especially since it spectacularly failed). Tell that to the people of Darfur. Tell that to Israeli Arabs (Arabs living in Israel proper who have citizenship) who are the victims of an ongoing apartheid. From the given scenarios, it seems like when millions are oppressed, we’re often in some way responsible.

Now one could go on about Iraq, and yes we did liberate them and that’s just grand morally, but we did so not because we felt bad for the Iraqis (if so we would have invaded them years ago), but because the Bush administration believed it was best for national security (I’ve argued in many posts previously that this was a serious miscalculation which decreased our security, destabilized the region, has put immense military pressure on our ally, Israel, and made nuclear proliferation a serious issue again).

I think it’s great that people immigrate to this country in search of a better life. That’s one thing we seem to do pretty well. Canada is the only country in the world I can think of which might be more accepting of legal immigrants. That is the great failing of Europe’s homogenous societies. Nonetheless, as a white person, I feel capable of and willing to emigrate from this country, knowing that I won’t face too much discrimination in England (the only place I could currently see myself emigrating to).

I love my country. I love what it was supposed to be. I love what I think it could one day be. But I don’t love the socially conservative plutocracy which I fear this country is becoming. If I can find a society that better reflects my own values, then I have no problem moving there. But I will always dream of a freedom-loving, meritocratic America.