More Witchard’s Armangnac?
Witchard’s Armangnac is a potent spirit that some say adds clarity to otherwise muddled thought.
Let’s hope.
Patriotism is not flag waving, anthem singing, or motto parroting. It isn’t jingoism. It’s not puffing up one’s chest and thumping it and proclaiming that we’re the greatest and anyone who disagrees is a traitor who should, when our country is concerned, love it or leave it. It is certainly not judging others by ethnic origin, religion, or culture. It is most particularly not giving up rights in exchange for empty promises of security.
Patriotism is maintaining the very things that make USA a target for control freaks and chaos lovers worldwide. It means protecting our rights, our freedoms, and our liberties all the more zealously. It means continuing to set the prime example of what a truly democratic republic can be with all its idealism intact and practical and honored in the observance and not in the breach.
We need to understand that illusory threats and vague common enemies do not excuse abuses of privilege, power, or politics. We need to remember that the price of freedom is eternal vigilance, and that the vigil must include a close watch not only beyond our shores, but inside our borders and most especially inside our governing bodies, too. Freedom is stolen all the time in the name of doing good, in the name of helping, in the name of protecting the children or the national security.
Patriots live free or die. Patriots regret having but one life to give to the cause of liberty and justice for all. Patriots know what it means to live of, by, and for the people.
Patriots defy laws that are not right. Thoreau in jail over a petty local ordinance was asked by an exasperated Emerson, “What are you doing in there?” and replied, “What are you doing out there?”
We must each choose our battles. We must each decide what is worth fighting for. If our families are directly threatened, there is little question that we’d fight. If our lifestyle is threatened, there is more elbow room for cowardice, weaseling, and self-deceit. If our peace of mind is threatened, all bets are off, it seems. We will willingly give up a great deal in order to feel safe, when the truth is, nothing can ever make anyone safe, only safer, and only marginally so in most cases. Safety, turns out, is a subjective emotion, a feeling, not quantifiable beyond Maslovian basics.
Patriots don’t think about safety when they make their move. They focus on ideals, yes, but not the subjective ones that apply only to individuals. Patriots work for the good of all.
All for one and one for all, another famous motto that stirs us, applies to citizens of the United States of America. Protecting rights is such a general ideal; they do not apply only to some, nor are they doled out selectively. Maintaining freedoms and liberties, such as freedom of speech — no matter how galling or appalling it may seem to some — and the liberty to travel as one will — no matter the ethnic origins or skin color — is the only patriot thing to do.
A secret service agent charged with protecting the President was denied the right to fly on an airliner because of his ethnic background. This despite his job, his credentials, and his genuine desire to protect the leadership. This man was not at liberty to travel, a right all of us think is automatic and unrevokable.
A comedian was barred from his week-nightly TV show for having made comments some construed as “un-American”, thus abrogating his freedom of speech.
Two brief, ultimately unimportant examples? Perhaps. Or maybe even one such injustice is too much.
Ask a patriot. If you can find a real one.
Well, bottle’s closed. Hope such a short snort did you some good. And if you liked it, come back again for more, on various topics.
NOTE: This is an example of one of many columns I wrote for APA zines.
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