Re-Thinking Patriotism

By

Shawn Gilbert

          In order to survive as a species, human beings have always grouped together for safety and comfort. The feeling of patriotism has evolved quite naturally over generations of tribes and societies successfully defending themselves against neighboring   invaders. Patriotism, as wielded by a politician, has been practiced and honed until it could be used as a weapon to manipulate whole nations to do the bidding of just a few “elites”. In order for humanity to survive the next paradigm of societal evolution, we must re-learn what it means to be patriotic, and how to direct this very powerful urge to belong.

          To gain a better understanding of patriotism you need only to realize the relationship between the words patriotism and patriarchy. Both share the root pater, which is father. Patriarchy is of course the term used to describe a system of family leadership, while patriotism is this pure sense is loosely translated to mean “love for the father”, or “love for the lineage”. In early times, you had to depend on the people immediately around you. Friends and family that you had known and grown up with all of your life were just about all that you knew. Any contact with outside tribes tended to be brutal and violent. Classically these tribal clashes were over resources like hunting areas and food. As societies evolved though, the trend of attacking your neighbor before they eventually attacked you became more common. This atmosphere tended to make you very bonded to, and defensive of, your particular tribe. The feeling of patriotism establishes a “we” that satisfies the longings for connectedness and affiliation. It also helps us to focus on those that give us the feelings of love and safety of home and family. Being able to align yourself with a strong group gives one the feeling of security and belonging, as well as a “uniqueness” in the world by being part of a special group (The Psychology of Patriotism by Michael J. Bader). Many ancient tribes referred to themselves as “The People” and other tribes as something demeaning and un-human. And, since you rarely had knowledge of the culture of other tribes, you only knew of their aggressiveness and savagery. Knowing the kindness and helpfulness or your own friends and family gave you a very different view of them. Other tribes more than likely saw you as violent savages, just as you saw them. As you can see, this kind of patriotism can lead to the dehumanizing of anyone not of your tribe, establishing the worst kind of “us and them” mentality. This allows you to react to them as vicious monsters; creatures that only mean you harm and that should be killed without conscience. We have all heard of horrible acts of violence and cruelty done to civilians during war time. Looking at these acts after the fact we are shocked and horrified by what was done to seemingly innocent people. How could one human being do that to another human being? What we have to remember is that, especially in past wars, soldiers were trained to view the “enemy” as evil and less than human. To some one fighting an enemy that they view as evil and non-human, they are not doing anything to a fellow human being. They are doing their duty for God and Country. Acts of violence and cruelty done to an enemy is “necessary” to cleanse the world of their evil and protect civilized society.

            At this point you can well imagine what a charismatic leader could accomplish by using this natural patriotic defense mechanism to manipulate the people of a particular tribe (The People). If the leader of The People is particularly aggressive, he (the leader could very easily be female, but I’m going to stick to the male as being the aggressor, just to keep it simple) might decide that the “Unholy Ones” to the north, for example, are too dangerous to be allowed to breed and spread their savagery further (or, more likely, the leader desires to acquire more wealth by plunder and pillage). So, in an effort to “protect” the People, he would organize an attack party (army) to wipe out the other tribe. If there were any objections he would point out that the “Unholy Ones” were not “of us”; “that all we have seen of them is violence and death, and how can we sit here and do nothing when they are out there, plotting to kill us all in our sleep!” It really wouldn’t take much convincing to get the People to see the “logic” in attacking the “Unholy Ones”. And, because the other tribe has been dehumanized and reduced to unholy creature status, the People would kill them without mercy, on many occasions torturing captives and sacrificing them to the gods to show that The People had done their duty. It also made it seem reasonable that since they weren’t of the People, that they could be used as slaves. Many well intentioned (and some not so well intentioned) leaders encouraged their people to do many inhumane acts in order to protect and promote the culture of the tribe or society. Also, in order to prevent dissent or opposition from within the tribe, questioning the “will” of the leader was not tolerated. A line would be drawn that you would either support the leaders and the group or be considered a traitor and one of “them”. As many tribes were classically a patriarchy, (and not a democracy), this line of thought worked fairly well. What has been the most frightening and disturbing trend in politics lately has been the use of the term “un-patriotic”. When one of our citizens or a member of the press has had the courage to ask our leaders an awkward question at a public setting, or question the direction or tactics of a particular policy, the leaders are quick to defend their position by accusing the questioner of being un-patriotic. Many well educated and enlightened people would suggest that it is the patriotic duty to question the intention of our leaders. To not question our government is an act of “Blind Patriotism”. The whole idea of a democracy is to be able to voice your opinions and criticisms, both positive and negative, in order to better our lives. History has shown that blind patriotism to a leader or government always leads to corruption.

            By pointing out these facts it is not my intention to vilify patriotism. I believe that patriotism can be a powerful and positive influence on humanity, if directed properly. As a global society we have come a long way from not knowing our neighbors. Because of things like faster modes of travel, a faster means of communication, and a general heightened awareness and empathy, we can no longer allow ourselves the excuse of not knowing the culture and benefits of others. Famines in India, for example, are no longer isolated incidents that are happening to people far away that you don’t know or even care about. A war on the other side of the world over land that you have never even seen can now have a direct affect on your way of life. Your tribe, (that is, the people you know and love; that help to provide you with food, warmth, and safety), is no longer just the people that you can see and touch. An earthquake in a city you have never even heard of can affect your ability to find parts to fix the car you drive or find the food you normally eat. Feeling patriotic toward just your country, toward just one little spot on the earth, because some politician said that it was more important than any other part of the Earth, is no longer valid. Because of increased communications technologies we now know instantly what is happening on the entire planet. We can now see, hear and empathize with, someone we have never even met. We can understand what they are doing and why. More importantly, we can feel connected with them when we can see that they have the same struggles and triumphs that we do. No longer are the unknown “neighbors to the north” brutal savages that only show us violence and death. We can read about, see, understand, and even ask about their life. We can root for someone in Thailand that we see struggling to rebuild their home or condemn a ruthless militia for attacking a village. Patriotism may be the driving force that saves humanity from itself but we must re-think what it means to be patriotic. It can no longer mean attack your neighbor before they attack you. It can no longer mean that anyone who isn’t “American” is the enemy or somehow sub-human. That kind of blind patriotism will not work for a global people. We must re-think patriotism to involve everyone. We must come to understand that when one of us falls, we all slow down; understand that when one of us does well, we all benefit in some way. We must learn Human patriotism.

            The “us and them” mentality is a distortion of the original concept of patriotism. We need to be careful to use the word correctly. And, just as important, we need to “call out” those that try to use the word incorrectly. With the increase of communication and transportation technologies, it’s no secret that the world is virtually shrinking. The blogger from China is now a member of your tribe. Human beings can now have their basic needs for attachment, recognition, and survival satisfied on a global level. Even with some of the terrible things that people still do to each other it’s getting better year by year. I’m optimistic that the human species will survive and I feel patriotic towards the human race in general.