Polarizing Patriotism: Why is there no middle ground?

dailycollegian ^ | January 31, 2002 | Jason Clemence

[vannrox]

Polarizing Patriotism: Why is there no middle ground?

by Jason Clemence
January 31, 2002

Quite a bit of head-scratching puzzlement has been caused by Charles Bishop's patriotism. Since his death, the 15-year-old who suicidally plowed a small plane into a Tampa skyscraper has been endowed with two sweeping, generalizing adjectives: "patriotic" and "troubled." Perhaps it is time for us to take a hard look at exactly what patriotism has become.

Dale Porter, the headmaster of Bishop's private middle school, has been quoted as saying "I can picture him (Bishop) singing 'My Country 'Tis of Thee'. . . he was proud to be an American." This caricature of the upstanding all-American boy has been repeatedly juxtaposed with the allegation that his suicide note contained sympathies towards Osama bin Laden and the Taliban. Consequently, we have a boy who embodies both ends of an increasingly polarized social spectrum.

More than ever, we are forced to decide if we are die-hard patriots or un-American dissidents. Apparently there is no room for any middle ground. Society insists that we ignore the abounding subtleties of this entire conflict and make an absolutist decision to either be a flag-waver or an anti-American freak. President Bush set up this atmosphere of partisan side-taking within hours of the first attacks when he demanded that the rest of the world make a choice to either be with the U.S. or with the terrorists. Even the most isolationist countries such as Sweden and Switzerland, who manage to avoid terrorist attacks on their own nations through the simple practice of minding their own business, could no longer maintain neutrality.

There was no room for discussion of U.S. sanctions in the Middle East. No time to debate the influence of our oil interests or our bullying of Palestinians. The CNN images of American flags being burned in the streets of Pakistan (which might as well have been stock footage since that is a quite common occurrence) instilled the sense that the Islamic world and the Middle East were monolithically conspiring against all that America holds dear.

And so began a national campaign of patriotism. Flags that had only seen the light of day on July 4th and Memorial Day were flying constantly. Statements like "Proud to be an American" and "God Bless America" became fashionable once again. But with this national unity, a troubling undertone of superiority began to emerge. Afghanistan was devastated by Operation Enduring Freedom, but that should come as no surprise. The Taliban was quickly dispatched by the United States ground troops (with only one casualty, certainly a record low for all high-profile American wars), and it seemed that Americans could rest easy once again. However, the greatest threat to our security is not a Fundamentalist Islamic regime or a power-hungry dictator, but our own arrogance that we, as Americans, belong automatically to a higher order of humanity.

Patriotism is a continuum. Having too much of it is just as dangerous and nonsensical as having too little or none at all. The truly patriotic are not those who flew their flags when Bush told them to. They are the people who realize that our concept of personal freedom makes our nation great, but does not make us, as people, superior to any other. True patriotism is embodied by humility and respect for differing opinions, not by bumper stickers with the words "Kill Bin Laden" emblazoned on a red, white, and blue background.

In the past several months I have encountered tasteless jokes about Afghanistan and Islam that are ostensibly meant to be supportive of America; but when the punch line comes, they are nothing but hate and the reinforcement of stereotypes that have no relevance to this war or its impact on the world.

Bad jokes, simplistic slogans, fantasies of violent redemption; none of these things will solve the problem of terrorism and certainly none of them are patriotic. There is such a thing as being a patriot by loving one's country with dignity, and with a realistic understanding of its faults. Too often, especially in the past four months, criticism of American policies has been construed as criticism of America, and people who may have constructive ideas remain silent for fear of being labeled "un-American." This fear is not without precedent; when such people do speak out, no matter how much they reiterate that they are not trying to put down Americanism as a whole, they are typically interrupted with such intelligent rebuttals as, "Well if you hate it here so much, why don't you move to Afghanistan?"

Charles Bishop has been portrayed as a young patriot gone astray. He's also been portrayed as a troubled boy who had no friends and was socially dysfunctional, as most kids who wind up in the newspaper are typically characterized. This broad generalization reminds me of the Reagan-sponsored anti-drug programs of the 1980s which tried to prevent a social problem by associating it with a lack of "coolness." I can see a future campaign slogan of "Only losers commit desperate acts of suicide while sympathizing with American enemies."

The confusion that the Charles Bishop incident has caused is not just due to the apparent oxymoron created by the contrast of his personality and his actions, but also because of a fine distinction that has been created between patriotism and anti-Americanism. It is much easier to diametrically oppose these two concepts than to accept that very few people are one or the other; it allows us to label ourselves and others in order to feel safe in a hostile social climate. Putting American flags on our car antennas, berating all things Islamic, and making people like Bush, Ashcroft and Rumsfeld into icons of American leadership are not actions of patriotic pride. They are the actions of a public that prefers glib, trendy gestures to an open dialogue on the nuances of a complex situation that cannot be boiled down to "You're either with us or against us."

[wilmington2]

The patriotism is an obvious reaction to 9/11, and to the eight years of moral and ethical rot under Clinton.