Patriotic Mix
Time Magazine is currently running a series of articles on the meaning of patriotism to different peoples and perspectives, including John McCain’s and Barack Obama’s view. The most intriguing, though is Peter Beinart’s essay on patriotism, which usefully dichotimizes the Liberal / Conservative split on the question. This is, of course, an issue when 27% of the nation doesn’t believe that the presumptive Democratic nominee for president is patriotic.
Conservatives, according to the article, see patriotism in terms of unquestioned loyalty and fealty to the values of the Fathers. It is an idyllic interpretation of the past, and a hope that the values of that world are not thrown out with the dishwater (and last year’s gadgets). It sees America as strong, with that strength best expressed in the liquid power of the military. Any questioning of these values, or of their strength, is little more than a personal affront indicative of a subversive. Moreover, the values are mixed in with cultural customs and traditions (i.e. not diversity or new traditions).
Liberal patriotism, on the other hand, focuses as much on the future as conservatives focus on the past. Liberals have an idealistic view of what they want the country to be, and it’s generally grounded in a belief that we can do better. It is formed on a rejection of the worst parts of the past, as well as a troubling glance around the present. So they’re constantly trying to change things; to create a utopia based on the ideals of democracy, freedom and equality.
It’s no wonder that a conflict results. Liberals are seeking a better world based on problems they find in this one, particularly in the errors and horrors of civil rights in from the past that still haunt us. In the view of the conservative, liberals are looking for the faults in the past and explicitly rejecting the nation’s storied virtues. When they wave the flag, or wear the lapel pin, it’s a natural display of their kinship with what they represent. Liberals have difficulty understanding this celebration.
As much as they despise collectivism, conservatives feel like they are an intrinsic part of the nation, and any attack on its character, as it has traditionally been represented, is a direct attack on them, their parents, and everything they stand for. In many cases, it’s nationalism masquerading as patriotism. Liberals think that their ancestors had some great ideas, but that they need constant refinement and revisiting to retain relevance. But liberals often are too caught up in their historical psycho-analysis to recognize the virtuous institutions that can be built with a pinch of patriotism, caught up as they often are in their revulsion at its display. Obviously, all these are stereotypes; very few people fall succinctly into one category.
It’s difficult for me to write fairly about both sides, because I vaguely fall on one side rather than the other. Yes, I’m a coastal liberal; in fact, I’m currently floating above the clouds over some flyover state (the map in the seat back in front of me says I’m somewhere on the Kansas/Oklahoma border) en route from coast to coast. Yes, I could be viewed as an elitist without the truth objecting too much to any unnatural elongation. I like music and movies and books that offer more than the vacancy of the resulting stare. I have a master’s degree. And I think my writing’s better than it probably is.
But that doesn’t make me any less patriotic. My pride in my country was actually forged outside of it; seeing the contrast between our freedom and the conditions our fellow human beings live with around the world made me homesick. That homesickness eventually developed into pride – of who I was, where I came from, and the role I could play to sustain it. (Of course, moving to the East Coast developed my sense of superiority about the West Coast, and California in particular.) It allowed me to see past the contradictions between our values and reality and instead celebrate our success in trying to resolve them.
So I thought that the best way for me to show my patriotism, besides eating lots of chili at a down home chili cookoff, was to make a mix of songs I find patriotic and inspiring, or that I would play for Lady Liberty. Many show the difficulties that patriotism cultivates; the layers of complexity that go into a liberal’s pride in the nation. And most are, of course, not at all about love of country, but about some kind of ideal. As a whole, it’s a tour through the development of this liberal’s national pride.
Delgados – The Light Before We Land
In the opener to their 2002 Hate album, Delgados capture the hopefulness of the new beginning. Analogous to the hopefulness of a few farmers and merchants writing daring documents, singer Emma Pollock is troubled by the present, but optimistic and hopeful for the future.
Desaparecidos – The Happiest Place on Earth
I want to be proud. I want to see all the good in our system. But it’s difficult to see past the failing schools, the needless wars, the environmental decline; the total vapidity of the system. If the last song was about hopefulness, this is the lover scorned.
Sonic Youth – Kill Yr. Idols
One day, you realize that even the people that seem to be saying and doing the right things are actually just human, awash with fallibility and humanity’s degenerate nature. I’m not sure when this first happened for me; probably about the time of Monica and Bill’s tryst. In reality, though, this keeps happening; we keep creating prophets out of our leaders, and abandoning them and their beliefs when we find their failings.
Violent Femmes – America Is
And then you’re just upset. The ‘throw the bums out’ mentality extends throughout the system. No one knows the facts, but they’re walking around like they do, repeating the party line until they’re blue in the face. And the people are eventually battered down into belief.
The Cure – Killing an Arab
Finally, you’re the protagonist in Camus’ The Stranger (this song is based on a famous scene in the book wherein the main character murders an Arab on the beach in an attempt to feel something), wallowing in the philosophical mud of nihilism. You’ve been broken down completely; all that’s left is to rebuild.
They Might Be Giants – The Statue Got Me High
Sometimes it takes a gravitous figure to rekindle your fascination with and acceptance of the beauty in the ideals of freedom and equality that the nation was founded upon. For me, that figure was Thomas Jefferson. Just how much I accepted him for his ideas instead of his actions showed my maturity; that I had grown beyond the idolization of thinkers and developed an ability to separate man from idea.
R.E.M. – So. Central Rain
The defining characteristic of this song is the chorus, which features Michael Stipe crooning “I’m Sorry” repeatedly. And, really, the first development of liberal patriotism, of the idea that we can do better, is that itch known as liberal guilt. Guilt over slavery, inequality, environmental degradation. It is only from guilt that we can realize a coherent vision of the future; from this we can map the route America needs to take. That America has the strength to take.
The Hold Steady – How A Resurrection Really Feels
Born again patriotism is rough. Sometimes you can go too far, but then you’ve you find yourself in a diner late at night pretending that the things Dennis Miller says are a) funny, b) politically practical, and c) not based on BS. It’s a wrenching experience, because the veracity of your beliefs is continuously under question – especially if you can still criticize, and want to move things forward. It’s even worse when you don’t wear the flag on your sleeve; when your bloody shirt is waving out of fear of the worst rather than a provocation.
The Veils – House Where We All Live
It’s a gorgeous place, this myth that we’ve created. Reality is a pale and shadowed reflection, but the form is still there. It’s strengthened by our diversity and the different roles we all play. Each of our dissents builds upon the foundation, regarding the cement of its structure with each inspection. And if you just step back for a moment, you’ll see all the holes, but it’s beautiful nonetheless.
Radiohead – Everything In Its Right Place
But it’s also fragile. And chaotic. And ready to spin out of control.
The Weakerthans – Pamphleteer
How can we keep it safe? How can freedom survive all the iniquities in the system, all the myriad holes in the foundation? Someone’s going to have to defend it when it needs defending, and show everyone its virtues. It can still be criticized, but constructively.
I’ll be a pamphleteer for America.
Elliott Smith – Independence Day
Smith is singing about independence from abuse, but the song works despite this – perhaps because it lacks the jingoistic failings of Toby Keith.
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