American Pride: I Love My Country

In times of war and political campaigning, one's degree of patriotism becomes an important issue. Pride in America has become a psychological defense against terrorism, while candidates for President accuse each other of various violations of cultural unity. People who equate patriotism with obedience to government would call Ron Paul unpatriotic for speaking out against the present war, but mostly the media ignores his "revolution" all together. Instead, there is much publicity about whether or not Barack Obama was wearing an American flag lapel pin-- which leads me to enquire, 'Is Jessica Simpson patriotic in a stars-and-stripes bikini on the cover of GQ magazine?'

George Bernard Shaw wrote that "patriotism is your conviction that this country is superior to all others because you were born in it." He seems to describe a certain national narcissism. Freud describes primary narcissism as "the libidinal compliment to the egoism of the instinct of self-preservation", so a national narcissism would be a nation's instinct to survive as a group. There is safety in numbers, and the inclination to pack or flock is natural throughout the animal kingdom. The survival instinct usually begins with self and then family and then larger clan, but often, out of love, a parent will sacrifice his/herself to save a child, a soldier will die for his/her country. It is a matter of where identity is placed, such as a child is the future of a parent's genes, so the country is the immortality of a soldier.

The personal identities of individual Americans became more nationalistic after the attack of September 11th, according to opinion research conducted by the University of Chicago compared to the same survey questions asked in 1996. They also studied national pride worldwide. The U.S. ranked highest for pride in its democracy, political influence, economy, science and military. The highest for sports, arts and literature, history, and fair treatment of all groups in society was Venezuela.

A U.S. citizen, I love my country, and I'm not ashamed that the major reason is simply that I was born here. Patriotism literally means "love of one's fatherland", and I literally love this land. I have not seen the whole country, but it is not difficult to love it all. The variety of landscapes and cultures in the U.S. make pride in this country different from smaller countries. To maintain diversity within our borders is to make American patriots essentially patriots of the whole world.

In a speech to the House of Representatives in May 2007, Ron Paul stated that "the true patriot is motivated by a sense of responsibility and out of self-interest for himself, his family, and the future of his country to resist government abuse of power." The U.S. economy, in which we apparently have more national pride than any other country, is increasingly motivated by the interests of a few rather than the welfare of the whole. For whom are we at war? For whom are jobs outsourced overseas? We are kept busy trying to make a living in this economic system, but we do not have to turn a blind eye. Do you believe our country should advocate torture? If not, say so! You do not have to be quiet. You do not have to buy cheap foreign goods. You do not have to vote for a corporately-sponsored front-runner if you don't believe it to be in the best interests of yourself, your family, your country. It takes effort to live by one's ideals, whatever they are, but one must try. To quote Mark Twain, "Each man must for himself alone decide what is right and what is wrong, which course is patriotic and which isn't."

As I said, I love my country. The brand of patriotism I subscribe to is simple. I have a love of the actual land itself, for the woods and wildlife, for fields of grain, for communities of beetles, mice, deer, and people, for the feral cats in my neighborhood and the armadillos I've never seen but know exist within our borders. My patriotism is steady, as I strive to understand the world around me in order to make responsible decisions everyday.

Footnote: As for the stars-and-stripes two-piece swimwear, I am almost certain that Ms. Simpson is attempting to subtly remind the American public of thermonuclear weapons testing inflicted upon Micronesia in the 1950's.