patriotism…hmm…
i guess that patriotism at it’s most basic and etymological sense is a love of ones country.
so i guess i’m a patriot, and here’s why:
i love our constitution. our constitution provides each and every american with the right to express themselves freely, the right to worship freely, the right to assemble freely, the right to be free from the arbitrary attention of the state, and so many other wonderful things.
when i read our constitution i’m proud to be an american. i recognize, of course, that there is a constant struggle between those of us who believe in the constitution and the rights that it proscribes, and those people who are offended by the scope of freedom that the constitution proscribes. i love the fact that our constitution protects peoples freedoms regardless of their political or religious orientation.
i might be horrified and offended by some particularly egregious examples of freedom of speech, but i’ll fight to protect peoples rights to express themselves however they so choose, even if i think that they’re wrong.
needless to say, i’m a very proud member of the aclu (one of the organizations that falwell and pat robertson singled out as leading to the demise of our country. the aclu, by the way, exists solely to protect peoples constitutional rights. i’m also a member of ‘people for the american way’, which was also singled out by jerry falwell and pat robertson as being an offensive organization. i’m so proud…)
i also love the united states because it’s a nation of immigrants. the plurality of our culture is something that i’m quite proud to be a part of. it makes me so happy to live in new york and to see newly arrived immigrants walking around with a sense of wonder and potential.
or to see people from different cultures co existing peacefully and learning from each other and influencing each other (and eating each others cooking…).
i also love the united states because it’s beautiful. it’s the only country i know of that has tropics and glaciers and deserts and mountains and rocky coasts and enough food to feed the world 100 times over (if everyone were vegan…sorry, i just had to get that in there).
and i love the history of american music. and literature. and art. and etc.
i love other countries, too. and my love of my country doesn’t make me blind to its faults and problems. but america is, if nothing else, a work in progress.
and, being an eternal optimist, i always hold out hope that rights will be extended to more and more people and that politicians will become wiser and more moderate and that the government will learn to spend money wisely and justly and that people will grow to celebrate each others differences and respect each others beliefs and that all people will be welcome here regardless of their race or creed. like i said, i’m an optimist.
i’m not proud of everything that my country has ever done. we have a lot to apologize for. but to some extent we learn and grow from our mistakes (from slavery to colin powell, or from susan b. anthony to hillary clinton, for example), which is pretty remarkable.
and i have nothing against flag waving if it makes people feel better.
personally i’d rather wave a copy of our constitution, but i’m just a pinko from nyc, so what do you expect?
thanks,
moby the constitution waving patriot