Too many have replaced Patriotism with Nationalism. America is far worse because of it.
—
I don’t hate America. I also don’t hate the flag, the military, apple pie, my mom or baseball. But please don’t call me a patriot, the word has lost all value to me. It’s a word that no longer ties people to the love of country or the ideals of it’s founding. Today it’s only another word for nationalism. It is a word that is as far as I am concerned can be left on the trash heap of history.
I spent the majority of my life from birth in Alabama a state covered in “patriots” from top to bottom. I have worked in and around some of the most right-wing conservative political campaigns that have ever been constructed. I’ve been in private functions with many of the most polarizing office holders and seekers in the world. From private functions with Judge Roy Moore to spending time on Herman Cain’s bus, I have seen and heard a lot. Believe it or not, however, it’s not these lightning rods that turned me off from the word.
◊♦◊
The use of terms like Patriot, Great American, Constitutionalist, Tea Partier, or even Conservative doesn’t mean what they meant just a few short years ago. In the infancy of the Tea Party movement, it was about lower taxes, more freedom, and less government intrusion into everyday American lives. Somewhere along the road to political relevancy, those ideas have been hijacked. Hijacked is probably the wrong term, these ideas were sold to the highest bidders.
What has come out of the movement isn’t a force of change or even patriotism…
|
What has come out of the movement isn’t a force of change or even patriotism, it’s a new breed of activist and politician that are just as power hungry and sinister in their lust for position as those whom they claim to fight against. While no longer limited to small groups of like-minded individuals it’s become a vast movement of sheer hate, discrimination, and bigotry. Somehow the struggle for freedom turned into a weapon of oppression.
No longer do these Patriots look to weed out corruption and mismanagement in all areas of government, no longer do they cry for freedom for all. Today they only go on search and destroy missions against those who either were never on board with their beliefs or those who are being tossed aside for the flavor of the month. While the early years were spent trying to get a place at the table, the subsequent time has been spent wrecking any semblance of cooperation within our system.
◊♦◊
Hiding behind flags, bibles, and guns have become the new standard. The fact is simple, if it in any way encourages, or benefits a minority then they are against it. Black, gay, or immigrant, it makes no difference. The only people they want to see helped are old white Christian Republicans. That is the hypocrisy that I could no longer associate myself with, the screams for freedom and rights that have been followed by the calls for oppression and discrimination. I could no longer reconcile the two.
It’s not who I am or who I was raised to be.
My grandfather threw the Klan out of his house when they were trying to recruit him. He was no social justice warrior; he was a simple coal miner that said, “Anything you have to do with your face covered wasn’t worth doing!” that’s the stock I come from, that is the example that he gave to me. So how could I hide my face and be a part of a movement that no longer had the best interest of every American in mind? How could I in any way support discrimination against my fellow man, directly or indirectly?
I look back on the men and women I have backed up in the past and know that many cases I helped bring more pain and unwarranted stress into the lives of many honest good people.
|
I look back on the men and women I have backed up in the past and know that many cases I helped bring more pain and unwarranted stress into the lives of many honest good people. The fight against gay rights, the fight against voting rights, the fight against helping the poor, the fight against immigration, I have realized everything I was working for was simply a fight against someone else’s rights. I was part of a movement whose sole purpose was to stand in opposition to anything that didn’t fit into their mold as right and decent. Many times we fought against it simply because the “other” side was for it, no matter if it would have benefited our own lives or even those in need. Where is the honor in that, where is the patriotism in any of this?
◊♦◊
For far too much of my life I have had to look in the mirror and convince myself that what I was doing or saying was right and for the good of man. What I have come to realize over the past several years is that if it is for the good of humanity, then there should be no reason to be convinced. If you are living your life actually in a way that respects all humankind and values everyone’s rights then you will automatically know, there will be little need for soul searching.
Are there still good, well-intentioned people who call themselves patriots?
|
Are there still good, well-intentioned people who call themselves patriots? Certainly, but they are for the most part overshadowed by the dark underbelly that is directed by the worst of motives. The kind of people I can no longer feel comfortable in identifying with anymore. It’s time we all examine ourselves, and our real motives.
Love for our country is a beautiful thing, but it should never come before love of our fellow man.
—
Source: 30dB.com – Patriotism vs Nationalism
It looks like social media is painting patriotism with the nationalism brush as well. One may expect nationalism to lag behind patriotism but when being a patriot barely breaks even we may need to think about clarifying the definition of the term. — Howard K. 30db
—
—
Photo: Flickr/cometstarmoon
Side note baseball does sucks and I’m Puerto Rican.
Great article, I am so done with right wing politics. I am going to just start punching bigots in he mouth every time I hear some b/s conservative talk.
Uh huh. Obviously both Stalin and Mao were closet conservatives. Mao killed millions in the cultural revolution, and millions more before that. And take a gander at his version of income equality. Same as Kim il Jung same as Stalin. Killed and tortured millions in the name of socialism. Let the people have it all. Forgot to mention all of nothing for everyone. Equally though. Can’t bitch about that for sure.
Or the frickin Clinton foundation which is a money laundering operation for them. You cherry pick individual instances g. Completely irrelevant in the overall scheme. Conservatives understand them all. They’re all rigged against you. You’ll be at the bottom of the liberal heap when they’re done with you. You just welcome that position.
Mr. Brechlin’s detector is bullcrap.machine.
Mark, people like Michael Moore and the Dixie Chicks were finally vindicated about their right to free speech because the Republicans finally admitted that there were no WMDs and it was all about oil.
Mark, if you recalled the debate about the Iraq War, people like Michael Moore and the Dixie Chicks were told to shut up, had received death threats, and in some cases, people attack them. In addition, right wing militia have been threatening and in some instances have been killing law enforcement officers. You can’t say that about liberals.
Mr. Brechlin. The poor people give more according to the Philanthropy Chronicle:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/katiasavchuk/2014/10/06/wealthy-americans-are-giving-less-of-their-incomes-to-charity-while-poor-are-donating-more/#3166e1db5b6d
http://national.deseretnews.com/article/3922/do-the-poor-give-more-than-the-rich.html
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/hidden-motives/201008/why-are-the-poor-more-generous
Might as well throw the conservatives to the curb since they have done it to everyone else.
Yeah, Mark and the conservative have done a miserable job at the top and in the backrooms in both the private and public sectors when you look at organizations like ALEC.
No Mark, conservative policies have turned the world into a killing field when you look at Africa, Central and South America. Whose policies cause the crash of 1929 and 2008? It was the conservative policies. Transparency and watchdogs are something that the conservatives don’t apply to themselves. You are not speaking the truth. California is doing fine under its current liberal governor compared to the last two Republican governors it had. Bball, it is the conservatives who want to strip the country of the freedom of speech and you need to pull your head out and look. I recall the… Read more »
Yep russia, China Venezuela Detroit Chicago California cities filing bankruptcy are conservative bastions. Full of yourself g. Full of something for sure.
Tom is right G. Almost every single Democrat run city and state is full of corruption and in or near bankruptcy. Every single one. Coincidence I think not. Look at more and more corruption coming to light from the top of BLM. HAd it not been for the entire state of NY, NYC would be a city out of mad max. Liberal policies have just about doomed everything they’ve touched. Except for a handful of quasi socialist states, like finland, denmark, and sweden, every single socialist country has turned into a killing field of a dictatorship. Every single one. Coincidence… Read more »
That’s right, only and solely the conservatives. Like the liberals have done such as sterling job at the top. And in the backrooms. Oh please.
No it is the conservatives who are trash, violvent, will not compromise on anything, stoop low on anything and everything, want things their way or its the highway, fighting over anything and everything, nd they are getting worse every day. With the awakening of the people including people who used to support the right, the entrenched upper crust elite right wingers will turn America into a fascist state to keep their political, social and economic power and as Nick Hanauer stated it will be bloody because a society based on economic inequality can not sustain itself.
Have you looked at college campuses lately G? Conservative speakers are being violently attacked by LEFTIST students. And why? For talking. For saying things those students don’t want to hear. Trump supporters are the ones being attacked, not the ones attacking. Did you not see the coverage in San Jose? It’s the left that wants to strip away freedom of speech. It’s leftists like you who think other people don’t deserve rights. Pull your head out and look around
To be fair, ALOT of what you said was corrupted by liberals themselves. Tea Party was made to be a bunch of folks and an embarrassment. Naturally they reacted the way they did. They didn’t have a platform of fighting against minorities or sexual rights, but backed into a corner by government support for these, and calling them haters sure did it. I was raised as a Yankee like you. My kin always had high ethics and respect for all people. The liberals of today are trash, and violent trash at that. The call it fighting for rights but really… Read more »
and the left wing socialist, progressives, man hating feminist are different?
you can still be a patriot. You hit one side, I’ll hit the other.
And the right wing religious evangelists, labor hating, and LGQT hating are different?
“Black, gay, or immigrant, it makes no difference. The only people they want to see helped are old white Christian Republicans. ” As a 60 year old male white conservative Republican, this is at the very least insulting. Please provide me with data, not media BS but data to back up this accusation. Especially about “immigrants ” opposed to illegal Immigrants. Sadly, you have fallen lock step in what the liberal media is spewing. Take a few moments at look at the services that countless Christian organization provide and who they provide services to. Also take a look at Black… Read more »
.Your bullcrap detector is a finely tuned machine, Tom
At some point all the isolationist will cease utilizing race, sex, gender, and all else to polarize by play on emotion, but come to the realization that there is only good and evil…but that is christian philosophy…and that is verboten.
Conservatives have given more time and blood to increase income inequality and that is a fact when you look at the Koch Brothers spending more money to capture all levels of local, state and federal government so come down your conservative high horse and get a ground level view of what is happening.