On Patriotism
A week ago tonight (at almost exactly this time) Barack Obama was elected President of the United States.
The everything that everyone else on my friends list has said on this, I say yes, yes, and yes.
The funny thing is...
I've never been a big one for patriotism, of any kind.
I could never get it, the concept of it never clicked, even when it was explained to me by progressives who I respected and with whom I generally agreed.
Sure, when I was a kid, and had absolutely no idea what any of it meant. But see, the more I saw this country for what it really was, the more ashamed of it I was. The more that concepts like patriotism became clear to me, the more disgusted I was.
It wasn't just most folks who called themselves patriots seemed to fall in line blindly. It wasn't just that patriotism was used again and again as the rallying cry for violence, hatred, and imperialism. Even critical, peaceful, progressive patriotism has never quite made sense to me. The slogan "Peace is Patriotic" always seemed a bit jarring to me.
It's not that I doubt people's sincerity, or that I think you can't be a patriot and still work for peace, it's more: why would you want to be a patriot?
Maybe a part of it is that people would say, "I love my country," and I would think, why? What on earth in this place is worth it? Even going beyond the myriad ways that the U.S. upsets me, declaring such a sentiment for such a large, abstract thing seems almost silly. I love my city(ies), I love my state(s), I love my family and friends, hell, even I love my Party or my blank organization, these things I can understand. But a country? The U.S.? It's huge. There's no possible way you can feel the sort of localized attachment you have for the place you grew up, or where you went to school.
Saying, "I love my country" is one thing, but patriotism is, "I love my country and hate all you others--we are better than all of you, we are the best." Yes, I'm exaggerating, but that's essentially what it is, what it's become. Even if you can and do feel a genuine affection for the United States, why would that make us better than anyone else? Even if you're not violent in your affections, why should we be deemed as the best? Why should our lives be considered more important than anyone elses? On this large a scale, you can't claim that Americans mean more to you than say, Chinese or English or Chilean or German because they're a part of your personal clan--it's all abstract.
In the words of Alix Olsen, I'm not an anti-patriot, I'm an anti-patriotismist.
So, with all that said:
Last week, for the first time in my life, I knew what it was like to be proud of my country.
Last week, it finally clicked, and I could think to myself, At this moment, right now, I can love my country.
The everything that everyone else on my friends list has said on this, I say yes, yes, and yes.
The funny thing is...
I've never been a big one for patriotism, of any kind.
I could never get it, the concept of it never clicked, even when it was explained to me by progressives who I respected and with whom I generally agreed.
Sure, when I was a kid, and had absolutely no idea what any of it meant. But see, the more I saw this country for what it really was, the more ashamed of it I was. The more that concepts like patriotism became clear to me, the more disgusted I was.
It wasn't just most folks who called themselves patriots seemed to fall in line blindly. It wasn't just that patriotism was used again and again as the rallying cry for violence, hatred, and imperialism. Even critical, peaceful, progressive patriotism has never quite made sense to me. The slogan "Peace is Patriotic" always seemed a bit jarring to me.
It's not that I doubt people's sincerity, or that I think you can't be a patriot and still work for peace, it's more: why would you want to be a patriot?
Maybe a part of it is that people would say, "I love my country," and I would think, why? What on earth in this place is worth it? Even going beyond the myriad ways that the U.S. upsets me, declaring such a sentiment for such a large, abstract thing seems almost silly. I love my city(ies), I love my state(s), I love my family and friends, hell, even I love my Party or my blank organization, these things I can understand. But a country? The U.S.? It's huge. There's no possible way you can feel the sort of localized attachment you have for the place you grew up, or where you went to school.
Saying, "I love my country" is one thing, but patriotism is, "I love my country and hate all you others--we are better than all of you, we are the best." Yes, I'm exaggerating, but that's essentially what it is, what it's become. Even if you can and do feel a genuine affection for the United States, why would that make us better than anyone else? Even if you're not violent in your affections, why should we be deemed as the best? Why should our lives be considered more important than anyone elses? On this large a scale, you can't claim that Americans mean more to you than say, Chinese or English or Chilean or German because they're a part of your personal clan--it's all abstract.
In the words of Alix Olsen, I'm not an anti-patriot, I'm an anti-patriotismist.
So, with all that said:
Last week, for the first time in my life, I knew what it was like to be proud of my country.
Last week, it finally clicked, and I could think to myself, At this moment, right now, I can love my country.