INTRODUCTION

“A patriot must always be ready to defend his country against his government.”
-- Edward Abbey

Patriotism is a gestalt emotion – meaning that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. It is some ill understood combination of the sense of pride, the sense of duty, love of home, love of family, and just a dash of nostalgia – that would be the taste of watermelon and the sound of fireworks on the Fourth of July.

It can be found in the sound of a High School Marching Band on Veterans Day, and it can be found in the sense of wonder when one looks up at the Rocky Mountains, or upon the vast fields of wheat in a Kansas summer. It can also be found in the sweat of a Social Worker helping single mothers in an inner city to cope, or in the voice of a teacher who still believes that the youth of America represent our future. So too, Patriotism can be found in the blood of a Law Enforcement Officer, shed in the line of duty, or the tears of a mother whose son died a senseless death, fighting a war in America’s name for reasons unknown.

While the word itself is a noun, it is a noun that implies action. It is a term that implies acts or emotions, conscious or unconscious, that go beyond the dictionary definition of “love for or devotion to one's country ”.

Patriotism is something hard to define. It can mean a lot of things to a lot of different people, and can mean different things at different times in history. While a historical perspective of Patriotism in the United States might be useful, I’ll leave that project for another time. What I want to talk about here is Patriotism today – and more importantly, relevant tangible actions that can be undertaken by an individual who wants to BE a Patriot in the 21st Century.

I don’t want to rant (any more than absolutely necessary), and I don’t want to write a bunch of meaningless fluff, so I decided to keep it down to 10 actions – that is, 10 simple things that anyone who wants to help shape a positive future for America can do. I don’t mean to indicate that these are the only things that make a Patriot, or that by doing these things you automatically become a Patriot; that part is entirely up to you. I know that anyone who cares enough to do enough can make a difference.

So, you want to be a Patriot?

As of today, the Government would like to reduce Freedom and Liberty to a series of easy to remember slogans and sound bytes. It is their hope that the American People are sufficiently fearful, and sufficiently dumbed-down to accept whatever they are told without question or resistance. We are expected to believe that we are free, in spite of evidence that our Liberties and Freedom are being further eroded with each passing day.

Make no mistake, we are living in sad times. Our Government would like to define Patriotism as an ability to quietly and blindly submit to control over virtually every aspect of our lives. In this sick redefinition of Patriotism we must willingly sacrifice those very freedoms that our fathers and forefathers fought and died for. We are to lie down and accept that everything we are told, the laws we are forced to submit to, the taxes we are forced to pay, all are for our own good - with no more evidence than the word of individuals who derive a profit from our silence.

Truly, the events of 9/11 marked a sad day for America. Since that day many individuals who have dared to speak against the illegal actions of a government that seems to have abandoned “We the People” have been labeled unpatriotic. This is perhaps the least of the insults that have been dealt - worse epithets have been hurled, including “Traitor”.

Is this the Liberty that our fathers fought and died for?

Here’s a short message for those who value wealth and power over morality and justice. It applies equally to the Neocons that have brought us to this sad state of affairs, as well as the ignorant flag-waving Rednecks and twisted Religious Nutjobs who helped give them the power to destroy a Great Nation:

In spite of your delusional viewpoints, there is more to Freedom - more to Liberty than waving flags and putting your ignorance and prejudices on public display.

Nobody hates us because we are free; the United States was once the Greatest and most respected Nation on Earth. If there are people - or Nations - who have come to hate us (and am certain there are), it is only for what we have done or failed to do as a moral and just society. We can regain the respect and honor we have lost, but we must first put our own house in order.

“Liberty means responsibility. That is why most men dread it.”
-- George Bernard Shaw

Liberty means responsibility - it's that simple. Liberty isn't the right to be wealthy, it isn't the right to own a bigger pickup truck, and it isn't the right to force others to accept your God as their own. Liberty means responsibility - like having a child - you have to nurture it, you have to protect it, you have to educate it, you have to correct it when it is in error, and you have to love it. Liberty means work, it means educating yourself. It means taking responsibility for your own actions. It means making informed choices. It means holding the government accountable, and it means sacrifice for the greater good - a concept almost entirely alien to current American culture.

Liberty isn't just something you have - it is something you do, and something you must keep doing every day lest you lose it. This is where we stand today - on the brink of a great abyss; it is up to us. We can do nothing and plunge into the darkness of ignorance, despair, and servitude, or we can fight our way back to the great and shining heritage that our Founding Fathers wished for us. The choice is ours to make.