I Love My Country-The Government is Another Issue

The recent controversy over the Reverend Wright has produced another round of the old, right wing cliche about loving this country or leaving it. You would think think that after all these years of using the same hackneyed catch phrase that these people would find something a little more creative than “my country right or wrong,” but then again who said that pseudo patriots (I just can’t bring myself to think of these goons as patriots) were especially creative? That would require a certain degree of intelligence and as we all know the current wave of reactionary conservatism is hardly known for its brain power.

So what’s wrong with the love it or leave it mind set? Well, friends, I would suggest just about everything. In the first place it’s even more anti-American than most of the ideas that it seeks to demonize. The last I knew the Constitution does not require us to love our government. Indeed, it doesn’t even require us to love our country. I love my country, the country being the ideals that are set down in our Constitution, as oppose to the governments of fallible men and women who we elect on a regular basis. And in the case of George W. Bush we didn’t even elect him; he was selected by the selected members of the Supreme Court. Not exactly a shining moment in the history of representative democracy, is it? Sadly there is often a huge gap between the policies that are created by our governments and the ideals of the country. And it seems to me that the gulf between country and government has been widening at an exponential rate. We have reached the point where governments wage war without legal declarations from Congress. We sell out privacy rights and legal protections because our government wants more power over our personal lives. In short, we have raped the Constitution,the country, because our government has told us time and time again that we are no longer safe, that we need to give up rights to maintain our rights–an Orwellian mindset if ever there was one.

As you can tell I differentiate between my county and my government. I love the hell out of my country but I would be a liar if I were to say that I love my government. I do not love my government and the last I knew the Constitution does not mandate my permanent exile because I refuse to get in line and goosestep with the country-hating conservatives. I’m funny that way. I don’t like nor trust modern day McCarthyists who seek to persecute others based on their political beliefs. Oh, they won’t admit that’s what they’re doing, but in the final analysis you can usually discern the fact that these people are phony patriots based on what they do not do. We know that they love their symbols. We know that they love to torment people over meaningless issues like lapel pins, flag waving, condemning those who dissent, and cheering the latest war from their living room easy chairs but when it comes to actually proving how much they love their government they reveal themselves as the first degree hypocrites that they really are. Lapel pins and flag waving are easy. Anyone can verbally condemn someone for criticizing the government. Watching the latest war and cheering the government on is no more difficult than watching a football game. Why, claiming how much you love your government is the easiest thing in the world because it calls for no real sacrifice.

Volunteer servicemen do our fighting for us. We no longer have a mandatory draft which puts everyone at risk. We have private contractors who die for us. So unless you’re one of the brave young men or women who signed up for the Bush Wars you have nothing to lose. Indeed, one might conclude that (pseudo) patriotism really is the last refuge of a scoundrel.

That said it seems to me that there is a way to prevent the professional government lovers and pseudo patriots out there from revealing themselves as prime hypocrites. If they’re of age they can sign up and go off to Iraq or Afghanistan. If they have children of service age they can refuse to help fund their college tuitions until such time as Johnny or Mary have actually served with honor. Grandparents can encourage their grandchildren to go off and fight for the government. Anything less is sheer duplicity. In fact there are only two points of view which cannot be considered hypocritical. Either you are a critic of your government, in which case you would be a hypocrite if you did go off to serve; or you support your government, in which case you would be a hypocrite if you did not go off to serve.

Love of country, on the other hand is a little more complicated. Love of country recognizes the fact that governments can be wrong. Love of country, of the ideals on which this nation are based and built, recognizes that true patriots don’t just parrot whatever the government proposes to be true. Real patriots, those who love country, recognize the fact that governments make mistakes. Real patriots don’t hesitate to criticize, condemn, and offer solutions when they see that the government has placed the country in peril.