What Is an American ‘Patriot’?

[marmar]

from Consortium News:



What Is an American ‘Patriot’?

As the patriotic celebrations of July Fourth fade, there remains the enduring question of what it really means to be an American “patriot.” Is it loyalty to the country whatever its actions or is it a readiness to criticize some of those actions? In this guest essay, Gary G. Kohls asks whether “good Americans” risk becoming today’s “good Germans.”

By Gary G. Kohls

July 5, 2011


Most of us Americans would call ourselves patriots, whether our politics or theologies are right-wing/conservative, left-wing/liberal, or centrist/independent. But what exactly do we mean by patriotism?

Do we mean the blind patriotism that says “My Country, Right or Wrong,” the immoral notion that “might makes right” as long as “my country” wields the might, the type of patriotism that Samuel Johnson once called “the last refuge of the scoundrel”?

Do we mean the patriotism of 16th Century Protestant reformers (like Martin Luther) who believed that Christians were to be unconditionally obedient to their national leaders, no matter how corrupt those leaders were, a notion that – four centuries later – justified good German obedience to the cruel fascist dictator Adolf Hitler?

Or do we mean the type of patriotism that vigorously opposes the agendas of the wealthy elite, the conscienceless corporations, the Pentagon warmongers and the assorted pathological liars that dominate politics and the far-right fringe media that are attempting to destroy liberal democracy in America? ............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://consortiumnews.com/2011/07/05/what-is-an-american-patriot/

[FiveGoodMen]

1. A scoundrel ensconced in his last refuge

[MineralMan]

2. Well, anyone who calls him or herself a "patriot" should be

looked at with a skeptical eye. Something's usually wrong.

[Dawson Leery]

3. Patriotism is the last refuge of scoundrels.

[handmade34]

4. along that vein

"...Cycling is More Patriotic Than Flag Waving


http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/07/07-8


People on bikes save money, save gas, save the environment and make fewer demands on the public treasury than motorists. A mile of new urban highway costs $46-100 million, according to former House of Representative Transportation chairman Jim Oberstar, while a mile of 12-foot-wide bikeway costs $125,000.

Biking also improves our health, cuts health care costs, reduces air pollution, fights global warming, prevents traffic congestion, reclaims the streets as shared space, and the list goes on…(Yesterday, the New York Times ran a blog outlining the numerous economic benefits of increasing bicycle ridership.)

In fact, you could say the hundreds of bicyclists wheeling through Minneapolis on the 4th—both those in underwear and everyone else—were exhibiting their patriotism."

[stuckinarut]

8. You forget, handmade

Not everybody is as conscious as we are here in VT... We are lucky to live where we do.

Bikes are EVERYWHERE.

I also heard you get less wind resistance when you are naked...and you can only be naked in one state...and carry a gun at the same time!

[handmade34]

9. oh yah

:rofl: :fistbump: (my house is in Vermont but work keeps me traveling around the big U.S. - not enough bikes are everywhere, yet!!)

patriotism at its finest...

[classysassy]

5. A dupe

[Beartracks]

6. I was wondering along similar lines the other day.

Why is American "patriotism" regularly and primarily focused on the military aspects and iconography of "fighting for freedom," rather than also giving equal mainstream importance to the "democracy" part of it -- the struggle for values and ideals, equality and knowledge, self-governance and liberation from royal whims -- fought by the free-thinking Founding Fathers and other like-minded people through the years, the sum of whose contributions can easily be regarded as far more crucial to the creation and character of our country than was the lifting of arms?

Think about that for a moment. So-called revolutionary armies around the world have fought with bullets and bombs against oppressions real and perceived, and in many cases they only succeeded in ushering in a much worse government or society than what they had before. So clearly, it's not the physical fighting force that's important to shaping a democracy; rather, it's the great minds behind those soldiers who make the country what it is. The military might be considered the wrecking ball, clearing the way and keeping it clear, but the thinkers and statesmen -- and millions of voters -- would be responsible for building and maintaining the greatness of the nation.

Naturally, the military continues to be an important element of physical defense. But more important to defending a democracy from external dangers is the need to defend it from internal forces such as corruption, apathy, greed, and any number of non-democratic ills that can creep up when populations get complacent en masse. Without being on guard, a democracy might crumble internally, even while surrounded by its vigilant and vaunted military protecting the borders.

That which makes our democracy an actual democracy should be celebrated as patriotic. Guns, not so much. The Soviets had guns. Hitler had guns. They honored their armies, too. It means nothing in regards to the character of a country. Certainly, the men and women who put themselves (or, are put) in harm's way must be brave. But soldiers everywhere are brave. That's a personal quality, not necessarily a national one.

So why is it that references to patriotism in the United States are most frequently, popularly, and obviously associated with military prowess? Do most people think armies have more to do with keeping us free than do the mechanics of democracy, like voting and other responsibilities of citizenship in a free society? Is it really so simple a fact as that Americans just like to see things go Boom?

===========================

[WingDinger]

7. Nationalism is the measles of humanity. Einstein.