As I drive around town I see flags everywhere. Flags on peoples’ houses, on their cars, flag pins on their shirts or coats. In this time of conflict and disagreement, everyone seems to agree on patriotism. In fact, if you show signs of disloyalty, you’re in trouble. Recently people were criticized for displaying the Mexican flag.
So what’s so great about America? Trump yammers about other countries stealing from us, but actually we have the highest standard of living in the world. Other countries have a right to complain about us stealing from them. We have the best health care in the world but It’s not available to most Americans. We killed a whole generation of Vietnamese, to save them from communism. We overthrew the government of Iraq, killing 150,000 Iraqis, because we thought they were using “weapons of mass destruction,” which turned out to be false, and the power vacuum we created led to a sectarian war which claimed 150,000 more lives. We occupied Afghanistan for twenty years killing 60000 Afghans and overthrowing the Taliban because they refused to extradite Osama ben Laden, planner of the 9/11 terrorist attack. Then the Taliban took over again when we left.
I could go on, and on. We have high levels of gun violence, prejudice, homelessness. We do have a democracy, although it’s been a little shaky of late. We hold ourselves out as being a haven for “your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” Actually we have a history of banning immigration, especially now under President Trump, who thinks most immigrants are actually gangsters.
I’m not saying that we’re not a great country. We are, and we should feel proud, actually fortunate to have been born here. But other countries have cultures, customs, languages, histories that they are proud of as well. I’m part Chickasaw Indian, an Indian tribe with it’s own language, and traditions, and history, that are unique. We used to have a nation, but European countries colonized our land and killed most of our people, through disease and war, until we have little left but memories. There were hundreds of Indian tribes here when we were ‘discovered’ by the white man, each with it’s own traditions and culture. Only a few have preserved the memory of their history. I’m still proud though, and I’ve spent quite a bit of time learning about my Chickasaw heritage, and my family. It gives me a sense of belonging, a pride in what my family and my tribe have gone through and accomplished over the years.
There are many
cultural groups, everywhere in the world, that have a culture to be proud of,
and stories to hand down to their children, but that’s not the same thing as
nationalism. In this country there are many groups other than Native Americans,
the Chinese, the Irish, the Italians. All were discriminated against, even
enslaved. All of them are expected to be ‘patriotic,’ even though their history
gives them every right to resent the way they have been treated.
Patriotism is a thing of the present, not history or culture, race or family. It’s actually part of a strategy to keep people in line, to make people support the government. People in every country are expected to be patriotic, loyal to the country they live in. They’re expected to pay taxes, to serve in the military, to sing patriotic songs and to wave their flag.
Everyone knows that people in every location, every race and culture, whether rich or poor, have the same potential. We’re lucky to have more opportunity to develop our potential, not because we deserve it, but just because we were born in a country that gives it to us.
Years ago I picked up a book my wife was using in a course she took on international economics. It pointed out that poor countries usually exported raw materials and cheap labor. In return they had to pay high prices for manufactured goods. As a result, poor countries tend to get poorer and rich countries richer. That’s only one reason. There’s also war, and oppression, and education, natural resources, politics, etc. We should be working to raise the living standards of poor countries, to redistribute wealth, education, and resources to benefit everyone, to play the “world game.” (See post of May 20, 2025.)
But we don’t. In fact our current president got elected by promising to deport poor immigrants. “Make America Great Again,” was his slogan, and since being elected, he’s done everything possible to isolate us and to protect our wealth, using patriotism as an excuse. Immigration is a good peaceful way to redistribute wealth, and it actually infuses society with hard working, ambitious people with new ideas.
Patriotism is dangerous though. It gives rich countries an excuse to hang onto their wealth. It gives wealthy people an incentive to take control. It gave Hitler an excuse to tell people they were better because they were German. It is giving Putin an excuse to try and rebuild the Soviet (Russian) empire. And so on through history.
I know we can’t
just lie down and let other countries take over, but I think we should play the
“world game,” encourage immigration, population control, social programs that
help to redistribute wealth and resources.
