Bush's USAPATRIOT Act does more than trade freedoms for the illusion of safety. By implication the law also tries to redefine patriotism as willingly surrendering personal freedoms to the government and not asking questions of them. But patriotism is not about disempowering the individual and it should never be defined that way. Patriotism means being a good citizen, but patriotism is something that empowers the individual by making them a meaningful part of the political system. Progressive Democrats should be standing at the ready with corrections to and solutions for the civil rights abuses of the USAPATRIOT Act, but that's not all. Progressive Democrats also need a "Patriotism" Act by which they can fix the damage that Republicans have done to the concept of patriotism itself. Something that can easily be compared to Republican efforts.
It's not their fault, but a very large part of the problem is that many high schools simply don't teach civics anymore. They are too busy teaching to the rigid requirements of No Child Left Behind, to provide much information of real value, and quite often civics doesn't make the cut. What is the result of this? Well, according to a
study done on July 2005 by the American Bar Association:
Just over half (55%) of Americans can correctly identify the three branches of government.
− More than one in five (22%) believe the three branches of government are the Republican,
Democrat, and Independent branches.
− A full 16% of respondents believe the three branches of government to be local, state, and federal.
Less than half (48%) of Americans can correctly identify the meaning of the concept of separation of powers.
− However, almost two-thirds (63%) report being very or somewhat familiar with the separation of powers principle.
− 82% feel that the separation of powers is important, while only 5% report that it is not important or they do not know what it means.
Nearly two-thirds of Americans (64%) can correctly identify the principle of checks and balances.
− Just about that same percent (68%) report being somewhat or very familiar with the concept of checks and balances.
− About four in five (82%) believe checks and balances are important, while only 3% believe they are not important or are not sure what they are.
Almost half (48%) of respondents correctly identified the role of the judiciary in the federal government.
− Nearly three in ten (29%) reported they believe the judiciary advises the President and Congress about the legality of an action they intend to take in the future.
This is totally shameful. But it also means that many young adults especially have no clue about how government works, how laws can be changed, and how voting can make a real difference and is part of being a good citizen. As a result it gets more and more common to encounter young adults who really believe that voting is a just a sucker's game because voting never changes anything and nothing ever changes. And from there, it is just a quick leap to accepting the Republican lie, that being a good, patriotic citizen means surrendering personal freedoms and not questioning government authorities. Something must be done!
For starters, I'd like to mention an idea proposed by Capriccio in a diary from several days ago (I hope such a citation doesn't break the rules):
The Left ought to become as evangelical about the Bill of Rights as the Right is about the Ten Commandments. We should be insisting that those rights are posted and thoroughly taught in every school in America. Any student we don't want left behind should know those rights by heart--where they came from, why they're important, who and what threatens them. Most importantly, when I say Bill of Rights, I'm talking about all 10 of them, including our bastard child, the Second Amendment. It is time for the American Left to make peace with the Second Amendment. The way this Administration is eroding the others, it may be the only one we have left in the end.
What an AMAZING idea!! Let's do it! Why, there ought to be a law....
But why stop there? Here is my suggestion that I would like to add to the other: Require all students pass the American Citizenship exam in order to graduate high school. If it was required for graduation, the schools would have to teach it. And passing an official test that declares one competent to be a full participant in our democracy would also encourage people who might otherwise leave politics for someone else to deal with, to start behaving as a good, patriotic citizen, and participate in our political system by learning about and "following" politics and then voting. (I suppose it might also provide a learning opportunity for any children of "undocumented" aliens who might happen to be attending a public high school.) And so the only question would be how to pay for it. But after all, how much does it cost to enforce the USAPATRIOT Act? A lot, I'm betting.
I am very interested if anyone has any other ideas along similar lines.