Crossposted at MichiganLiberal.com
"The peace and welfare of this and coming generations of Americans will be secure only as we cling to the watchword of true patriotism: Our country -- when right to be kept right; when wrong to be put right."-Carl Schurz
Last year I wrote a piece about what it means to be a patriot. It was a short piece, filled with one-liners and was intended to be used as an email that you copy and paste and forward to 600 people that outside of forwarded emails, you probably haven't had much contact with.
So this Fourth of July I decided to write another post on patriotism. In short: Patriotism is hard.
I'm not talking about the kind of patriotism that most people think of. The flag-waving, yellow magnet sporting, Toby Keith listening, "support the President no matter what" kind of patriotism. That kind of patriotism is false and evil. That kind of patriotism never won a war, defended freedom, or done anything except create super-apathy in a world that is plenty apathetic already. I'm talking about real patriotism-the kind that requires action and sacrifice. That kind of patriotism is hard to have, and few people have it.
I believe that in the days following 9/11, we were all real patriots. Most of us gave blood to help the 9/11 victims, many of us (including myself) enlisted in the military to do our part in making sure that Osama bin Laden was captured or killed. And I really believe that the overwhelming majority of Americans would've done anything that they were told was necessary for victory if only we were asked. We would've paid higher taxes to pay for the war. We would've rationed food, gas, and other things to make sure the military received them. We would've taken caps on food and rent prices, and lowered our own spending on personal items. All this was asked for in WWII, and Americans did it. But this time we were asked for nothing, and so patriotism became nothing more than lip service for a corrupt administration that took advantage of our post 9/11 unity and squandered it for a divisive, partisan, right-wing agenda.
Real patriots have suffered since then. Those who have worked hard to make America a better place have been called traitors, communists, and other names by pseudo-patriots who put party and ideology above country. Even for those pseudo-patriots who do consider themselves real patriots, their ideas of what America is and should be have been twisted by a lying noise machine whose members have sold their own souls for greed and selfishness. They willingly make themselves ignorant of history simply so that they can feel smug in their own self-righteousness.
This is not to say that only the right is full of false patriots. The left has plenty of them. Anyone who has been to a local liberal meetup knows what I`m talking about. There are plenty of liberals who claim that they love America, and yet when the time comes to take action on America's behalf, you see them sitting in coffee shops giving excuses for why they can't/won't do anything, and continuing to cry over what a lousy President Bush is. Well, guess what, all ye who sit at the coffee shop! Bush is still in power because you haven't done a damn thing to stop him! Quit your bitching and arguing, come up with a plan, and execute! And if you're a liberal and offended at that last statement, it's because I'm talking about you. You're the guy. Quit your bitching.
Real patriotism is hard because few people are willing to be real patriots. The real patriots are the ones who believe that those who have should sacrifice on behalf of those who don't. They are falsely called communists or socialists for believing this. But there is nothing remotely communistic about believing that every citizen in America should have the opportunity to make a life for themselves, because to be patriotic is to care for all Americans. It was in fact, that idea that helped us to beat the Soviets in the first place. We knew that we could not have only a few of us with a quality education and livable wage and have the strength required to beat an evil empire. We all had to stand strong, together. So we created the GI Bill and other incentives to get people into colleges so that our technology would outpace the Soviets. We spent billions of dollars on government programs to combat poverty so the spending power of the American people would put Russia's socialistic economy to shame. It was the civil rights movement and our belief in a fair justice system that contrasted with the communist gulags and the secret police. Without these progressive ideas America would've likely been on the losing end of a cold war with an empire which prided itself on having absolute power. And it's all these ideas that right wing pseudo-patriots despise in the name of "defending freedom".
So what should we as real patriots do? Well if you need the answer to that question, you probably haven't done enough. But here's a few suggestions:
Fight for the right of every American to have a fair wage and decent education. Fight discrimination in your workplace. Be prepared to take to task those who believe in policies that are destructive to our country and the least of our people. Call the corporate media on their bullshit. Take the time to inform citizens of what's really going on. Make sure our troops are properly equipped, and fight for their VA benefits. Buy American products-even if they're more expensive than their foreign counterpart. Start petitions to get policies put on the ballot that legislators won't have the balls to submit. Keep beating down Congress' door until they bring our troops home and never again allow them to put us in a bullshit war. Be more giving and less selfish, and call out anyone who believes in doing the opposite. Pay your taxes. These are the progressive ideas that make America strong. Without them we would cease to exist.
And most importantly-always fight for the right for someone to say something that offends you.