Two kinds of Patriotism

Two Kinds of Patriotism

SILENUS

Twelve long years ago, I first saw the Star-Spangled Banner -the famous flag that inspired the national anthem of the United States. Because of its great age and tattered condition, this national icon only be exhibited for five minutes every hour. Gazing on its patched and ragged glory, my eyes filled with patriotic tears. I had expected to stand before an eternal symbol of America's invincible might. Instead, I was abruptly made aware of just how vulnerable the flag was. The lines from the anthem came back to me: "Oh say does that star-spangled banner yet wave, o'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?" I suddenly saw that these words were not a slogan of unalienable national essence but a warning and a challenge; they were directed not at America's enemies but to her citizens. Is the nation over which the flag flies, truly the land of the free and the home of the brave? Americans could not smugly define their country as the land of freedom and bravery, they are asked to embody and represent these virtues at all times.

Today, in October 2001, it is no longer possible for anyone with half a brain to define freedom as the 'free market,' or to equate courage with bullying, but old habits don't die easily. The horrendous events of September 11th have predictably spawned a great deal of chauvinistic bluster and hysterical flag-waving in the US. While many Americans loudly proclaim their 'sacred' right to bear arms, they are not used to standing at the wrong end of a weapon. We're not accustomed to being vulnerable or depending on the kindness of strangers. To the limited extent that we were aware of it, we viewed our unpopularity as envy. Now, suddenly, we're very much aware of our great vulnerability to hatred and resentment. We, who once claimed to be building a bridge into the 21st Century, have been dragged kicking and screaming into the real world.

Yet paradoxically, and despite the evil intentions of the murderous religious fanatics who attacked us, these terrorist attacks could also lead to the rebirth of America. It is possible -though hardly assured- that this national tragedy could lead Americans to take their great country back from the curious coalition of corporate lobbyists and hate-mongering Christian fundamentalists who clearly called all the shots in the early months of the Bush administration. For this to happen, the citizenry must wake up from their collective brainwashed stupor and understand how they came to be exposed to terrorism and biological warfare through no fault of their own -other than culpable banality. They must also rebuild what was, and could again be, a great republic.

Our friends abroad must understand that the vast majority of Americans are hard working 'suckers' who have profited very little from the false prosperity of the nineties. Left with very little time for human interaction, our world was held together by supermarket tabloids and trashy TV programming. Living amidst conditions of unprecedented social alienation and psychic impoverishment, we were seduced by Bill Clinton and his Republican 'fellow-travelers' into identifying the 'pursuit of happiness' with the soaring fortunes of multinational corporations and cultural icons. We grew used to living vicariously through Bill Gates, Madonna, and the Stock Market. When we plaintively ask 'why do they hate us?' it must be seen that we are not hated as ourselves but for the false gods we worship. We do not see that we are collectively despised as the sycophantic 'running dogs' of corporate greed and cultural decadence. Soon into his first term Bill Clinton realized that he had very little actual power over America; he was merely a figurehead for the faceless corporate interests that ran the US. His task was not to be First Executive of the nation but First Salesman for the economy. It was highly appropriate that his successor George Bush had been a male cheerleader in High School.

How did this happen? How did we enslave ourselves to a perverse oligarchy that is bent on destroying the natural world, and wantonly polluting cultures that have taken thousands of years to build, for the sake of the next quarter's profits? While a complete answer cannot be provided within this short article, I shall claim that Americans were skillfully hoodwinked into stripping their government of its power. This was done largely through a furious attack on the liberal welfare programs of the sixties; it was conducted in the name of 'family values' a convenient code word that exploited all tendencies towards selfishness, racism, religious bigotry and misogyny in the electorate. This onslaught was also unwittingly aided an abetted by those on the left who celebrated centrifugal social forces and romanticized cultural relativism. As the state 'withered away' under this joint barrage, the resultant power vacuum was swiftly exploited by those aware of its existence. Huge budget deficits were deliberately run up to reduce the money available for social programs and concomitantly generate windfall profits for the military-industrial complex. As a result, the rich became much richer and the poor worked even harder to earn less in real terms. Today, since a President cannot be elected without first soliciting hundreds of millions of dollars from big business for his campaign financing, the federal government lacks the power to protect its citizens from the corporations that control the US and exercise hegemony worldwide under our flag of convenience. We shamelessly prop up fundamentalist tyrannies all over the world if they seem to be well disposed towards global corporate interests. Of course these regimes use us with equal cynicism. Is it any wonder that the monstrous forces spawned by these unnatural couplings between the McWorld and Jihad would eventually return to their place of origin?

How may this insidious and evil process be reversed? Rather than setting out a prophetic manifesto, I shall adapt a classification from another context to illustrate the kind of cultural 'transvaluation' that needs to come about if the US is ever to become the "land of the free and the home of the brave." My analogy is drawn from the field of education. This is appropriate, since it was through corrupting the universities and the intellectuals that the ruling Oligarchy destroyed the republic. In his book "Beer and Circuses" Murray Sperber uses a classification developed by sociologists Clark and Trow to analyze the four basic subcultures in US higher education. There are respectively: the vocational, the rebel, the collegiate, and the academic. The first two categories are easily understood. 'Vocationals' go to college simply for the sake of a job, and 'rebels' are non-conformists who are deeply ambivalent about the culture they dwell in. 'Academics' see their education as an end in itself; though perhaps the smallest of the four groups, they "work hard, get the best grades, and let the world of ideas and knowledge reach them." Conversely, although 'Collegiates' also view their 'college experience' as an end in itself, they take very little interest in the intellectual opportunities afforded them. They go to college to enjoy sporting events, fraternities, drinking, and parties. While they would be the first to get into a fight and proclaim the superiority of their college to their counterparts of a rival school, they know or care very little about what goes on in a classroom or a book. Despite their stridently professed loyalty to their college, they are certainly the most destructive and counter-productive group on any campus since they frequently destroy college property in their drunken enjoyment. This group dominates student elections and has far too much influence over the direction of the college itself. Sadly, most colleges market the 'collegiate experience' to prospective students. Education itself is increasingly justified, with complete shamelessness, in purely selfish terms.

I shall claim that the citizenry of the United States may best be understood by means of these very categories. Most of us are hardworking 'vocational' types who don't have the time to look very far beyond our families and our daily humdrum existence. We do not conform to the stereotypical media image of the typical wealthy American There are also many rebels belonging to more or less paranoid counter-cultures; fortunately the nation is large enough to accommodate most of them -along with their eccentricities. Those who claim to be patriotic are frequently collegiate types. Their voices are certainly the loudest. They find the meaning of patriotism to consist in waging war against other nations, persecuting scapegoats, and staging vulgar displays of chauvinistic nationalism. Though most of them have never been in battle, they believe that the greatness of the nation is measured by the success of its armed forces and athletic teams. Their knowledge of history could be inscribed within the pages of a comic book; it is certainly of the same quality. Sadly, these are the very men used by multinationals and plutocrats to run this country. Most of our recent Presidents and (losing candidates) have been drawn from their ranks. These collegiate and corporate cheerleaders have great influence in shaping of the opinions of the many -who have neither the time nor the inclination to think.

It is up to the genuine 'academics' and students, the few who know the true history of their country and care deeply about the future of the democratic experiment, to set the rest of us a better example. Those who are thoughtful and responsible must somehow free the republic from its bondage to corporate oligarchy, educate their fellow-citizens in virtue by example, and atone for the sins of their ancestors. They have very little time. Yet, since freedom and bravery can no longer be guaranteed by high technology, perhaps a belated recognition of the precarious situation in which America finds itself will advance this process. A world where many parties possess the means to destroy millions of lives demands that we find sufficient spiritual strength within us to desist from acts of violence and provocation. Just as other Islamic nations should be the first to punish Muslims who profane their faith, we must re-educate those among us who debase our flag. We cannot go on shamelessly defending the property rights of soulless corporations while ignoring the moral obligations of a great power. We pray that the 'better angels of our nature' -once invoked by Lincoln- may come to our aid. The Bush administration says that it is not interested in 'nation-building' in Afghanistan; perhaps the task of 'nation-building' should begin this side of the Atlantic. We appeal to the rest of the world to be patient with us as we go about this gentle struggle. May we be worthy of our flag!

(The author is a teacher of political philosophy.)