I woke up with the desire to write about patriotism. Not out of the blue, mind you, but because I see Occupy Wall Street as a beautiful representation of the ideal expression of patriotism. And because we’ve all seen, and are seeing all the time, our governments (both local and federal) use false patriotism to shove their extremely unpatriotic agendas down our collective throats. Mine is sore, isn’t yours?
So I looked up the word patriotism to find out its exact meaning, and here it is: devoted love, support, and defense of one’s country; national loyalty. This definition only supported my suspicions, that Occupy Wall Street is extremely patriotic, while those in opposition to its humane agenda are likely not. And yes, I’m talking to you Mayor Bloomberg. To steal a line from Stephen Colbert, “Shame on you sir. Shame on you.” Only I mean it.
Has there been any principle used more effectively than (so-called) patriotism to curb national debate and silence warranted opposition to national policies? Well okay, there’s religion, but you get the point. Let’s not forget the poor Dixie Chicks who were nearly hanged as traitors for speaking out against the Iraq War before it was cool to do so. Okay, they weren’t nearly hanged, but they got plenty of death threats. In the name of patriotism of course.
So I looked up some quotes on patriotism and wasn’t surprised to find that many scholars and historians and generally smart people weren’t too fond of the idea of patriotism. George Bernard Shaw put the sentiments of many most succinctly with this little ditty: Patriotism is a pernicious, psychopathic form of idiocy.
Now that’s getting to the point. No doubt he was speaking to a species of patriotism (let’s call it anti-patriosapien) that, for example, gives governments the right to wage war on other nations for no good reason at all. And that gives the citizens of those governments the strange inclination to support those wars (for no good reason at all). Of course, George Bernard Shaw was a socialist (God no!) and shouldn’t be taken seriously in any case.
I found another quote by Alexander Solzhenitsyn that I liked very much: Patriotism means unqualified and unwavering love for the nation, which implies not uncritical eagerness to serve, not support of unjust claims, but frank assessment of its vices and sins, and penitence for them.
Now that’s what I’m talking about. And that’s why I view true patriotism the same way I view true friendship. It’s not just about loving your country or your friends; it’s about loving them enough to call them on their crap and to do everything you can possibly do to take them beyond it (their crap that is). Isn’t that true friendship - the willingness to say the tough things because you want what’s best for your friend? Isn’t that true patriotism as well?
And that’s why I love Occupy Wall Street. Because all of these protestors love themselves and their fellow citizens and this country enough to stand up and rally and march and proclaim to the “leaders” at large, “Hey, get over your greedy bullshit and let’s create a great nation together. Let’s realize our potential. Let’s embrace real patriotism.”
What I’ve come to realize about patriotism, or at least about my sense of the word, is that I don’t dare limit it to the United States. I’m more a patriot to this world than to any one nation in this world. I want all countries to flourish, and all people from all countries to take pride in their nations and in our world.
It has been said in a thousand different ways, that by healing oneself, you can help to heal the planet. So too then, by healing one’s country, especially one as powerful as America, can we help to heal the planet. I love living in America, in great part because I’m aware of the tremendous freedom we citizens have here. But this country is hurting. Our fellow citizens are hurting. And there are indisputable causes for this pain.
Greed is just one of the things destroying our country, but it’s doing a particularly effective job of it. I stand in solidarity with Occupy Wall Street and with everyone who is no longer willing to accept things as they are (by things I mean corporate and political corruption, et al.) I stand in solidarity with every American and every human being brave enough to live their lives as true patriots, to their nation, and to our world.
Together let’s restore the essence of patriotism to our nation. Let’s own the word as one that unites people to work together to create the best possible expression of their country. By that definition, I am a dedicated and enthusiastic patriot!
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