Several times over the past year some of my liberal friends have questioned what they perceived to be my feigning patriotism to win a political argument or to advance a political agenda. One even said that using false patriotism is “right out of the conservative play book.” (Maybe, it is. But, I wouldn’t know because I have never seen this play book.) Every time I am accused of using patriotism for political gain, I am a surprised. Usually, I am so surprised that I don’t know how to respond.
How is it that these liberals don’t understand that my patriotism is sincere and not feigned? How is it that they don’t feel the same love of America that I feel? After all they have had all the same advantage that I have had and in many cases more. Why can’t they see that I am not acting like a patriot because I am a conservative, I am conservative because I am first and foremost a patriot?
I have been giving these questions a lot of thought lately. I certainly don’t pretend to be a psychologist. But, I think I can understand why liberals hate patriotism. Understanding that hate may be a strong word, but nevertheless, they are forever condemning patriotism as gauche, as overmuch, as garish, and it is clear that such displays make them uncomfortable and ill-at-ease.
Patriotism, first, is not a selfish thing. It is about something grander than one's self. This is axiomatically opposed to a liberal's core interest: themselves. The suppression of their own desires for one single moment must feel like an inward strangling. Because of this horror, they resist such displays at all costs.
Second, patriotism is not a matter of displaying one's supposed intellect or buttering up those in a higher position than you. It operates on the drives of selflessness, memory of history, and faith. Liberals possess none of these motivations in any great degree.
Third, liberals feel uncomfortable because they are being asked to do something they do not naturally do: express gratitude for things that they do not believe in (American uniqueness, American achievements, and freedom). Generally speaking, to be patriotic is to recognize America as a good thing. Liberals cannot do this because they do not believe that America is fundamentally good and they do not share in the common dreams and characteristics of Americans throughout the ages. So, patriotism is asking a liberal to be a fake, and thus, liberals deride patriotism as fakery and worse, as some sort of pornography. They do this because liberals never look inside and ask, "Is there something wrong with me?" They are confident in their own superiority, and thus, their conclusion is that patriotism is the problem, that, and all the unintellectual backwards nativists that practice it.
Patriotism reveals those who truly love their country, and those who are made uncomfortable by their country. Liberals will always fall into the latter camp, and this is because patriotism shines a very bright light upon a missing part of their heart and soul.
Patriotism, first, is not a selfish thing. It is about something grander than one's self. This is axiomatically opposed to a liberal's core interest: themselves. The suppression of their own desires for one single moment must feel like an inward strangling. Because of this horror, they resist such displays at all costs.
Second, patriotism is not a matter of displaying one's supposed intellect or buttering up those in a higher position than you. It operates on the drives of selflessness, memory of history, and faith. Liberals possess none of these motivations in any great degree.
Third, liberals feel uncomfortable because they are being asked to do something they do not naturally do: express gratitude for things that they do not believe in (American uniqueness, American achievements, and freedom). Generally speaking, to be patriotic is to recognize America as a good thing. Liberals cannot do this because they do not believe that America is fundamentally good and they do not share in the common dreams and characteristics of Americans throughout the ages. So, patriotism is asking a liberal to be a fake, and thus, liberals deride patriotism as fakery and worse, as some sort of pornography. They do this because liberals never look inside and ask, "Is there something wrong with me?" They are confident in their own superiority, and thus, their conclusion is that patriotism is the problem, that, and all the unintellectual backwards nativists that practice it.
Patriotism reveals those who truly love their country, and those who are made uncomfortable by their country. Liberals will always fall into the latter camp, and this is because patriotism shines a very bright light upon a missing part of their heart and soul.
No comments:
Post a Comment