Yesterday I watched Mitt Romney's lame speech as he announced his decision to drop out of the presidential race. Mitt declared that he "loved America" and had to sacrifice his presidential ambitions for the "good of the country, while it is at war". If the opposing party would win, it would represent a "surrender to the terrorists" - implying that the Democrats hated America and are unpatriotic.
Patriotism is a sickness in America. It has infected every aspect of the national discourse, and has resulted in a disastrous, unnecessary war. Our commonwealth is threatened by a $600 billion military budget - dwarfing the combined defense budgets of all other countries in the world, while our nation's infrastructure collapses and our schools are starved. Patriotism is a cancer on America's soul.
Nicola Woolcock, writing in the London TImes, urges that children NOT be taught patriotism in British schools:
Patriotism should be avoided in school lessons because British history is “morally ambiguous”, a leading educational body recommends.
History and citizenship lessons should stick to the bare facts rather than encouraging loyalty to Britain when covering subjects such as the Second World War or the British Empire, the Institute of Education researchers said. Teachers should not instill pride in what they consider great moments of British history, as more shameful episodes could be downplayed or excluded.[...]
“Countries are morally ambiguous entities: they are what they are by virtue of their histories.”
The authors added: “It is hard to think of a national history free from the blights of warmongering, imperialism, tyranny, injustice, slavery and subjugation, or a national identity forged without recourse to exclusionary and xenophobic stereotypes.”
I think Kurt Tucholsky had it right in his essay Heimat where he wrote about the difference between Patriotism and Heimatliebe ("Love of the Homeland"). The "Patriots", Tucholsky wrote, are militarists, who will bring only destruction to the nation:
Sie reißen den Mund auf und rufen: »Im Namen Deutschlands ...!« Sie rufen: »Wir lieben dieses Land, nur wir lieben es.« Es ist nicht wahr. (They (the Patriots) shout "In the name of Germany....!" They shout "We love this country, we are the only ones." It is not true.)
But for Tucholsky, it is those who raise critical voices, who reject patriotism, who truly love the Homeland:
Wir haben das Recht, Deutschland zu hassen — weil wir es lieben. Man hat uns zu berücksichtigen, wenn man von Deutschland spricht, uns: Kommunisten, junge Sozialisten, Pazifisten, Freiheitliebende aller Grade; man hat uns mitzudenken, wenn »Deutschland« gedacht wird ... wie einfach, so zu tun, als bestehe Deutschland nur aus den nationalen Verbänden. Deutschland ist ein gespaltenes Land. Ein Teil von ihm sind wir.“We have the right to hate Germany, because we love it. When speaking of Germany, we should be taken into account: we, Communists, young socialists, pacifists, freedom-lover of all kinds… How easy it is to pretend as Germany is composed only of the national associations. Germany is a divided country. We are part of It”.
But it was the "Patriots" who drove Kurt Tucholsky from the country he loved. He was driven to suicide a thousand miles from his Heimat. And the "Patriots" went on to destroy their own nation, and much of Europe as well.
I don't have much use for patriotism either.... but I like the concept of "constitutional patriotism"....
http://www.amazon.com/Constitutional-Patriotism-Jan-Werner-Muller/dp/0691118590/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1202566494&sr=8-1
Posted by: Scott Kern | February 09, 2008 at 09:17 AM
Scott,
Sounds interesting. Did the concept originate with Habermas?
From Amazon:
"Müller's theory of constitutional patriotism responds to the challenges of the de facto multiculturalism of today's states--with a number of concrete policy implications about immigration and the preconditions for citizenship clearly spelled out. And it asks what civic empowerment could mean in a globalizing world."
Posted by: David | February 09, 2008 at 07:21 PM
It not a bad thing to be militant in the real world dude. What futurist utopian planet do you live on? I think you've watched too much Star Trek. Last time I checked, its a rough world out there. Our kids need to be ready, strong and able to tackel the future. The philosophy of moral relativism create kids( and nations) who are weak and indecisive when their nation faces danger. It also robs children of nation pride, hope, joy & honor for there fore fathers. While you're worried our kids might touch a gun, another father in some other part of the world is training his kid to shot you're kid's head off. Think about that smart guy.
Posted by: Hermon | July 26, 2008 at 11:21 PM