Want to know why liberals aren't as "patriotic" as conservatives?
Because our mindset doesn't lend itself to "nationalism". Yelling "USA # 1" or "AMERICA FIRST" requires one to be prideful 1st, self-analytical 2nd...or 3rd...or never, from how I've watched this play out in America during my adult life. My idea of "adulting" in this world isn't to sit around and think about all the things I've accomplished and sit on my laurels and shout about them or talk about them endlessly. Reasonable people can only hold onto small life victories for small moments of time. After that moment of pride, it shouldn't take long to continue to have that drive that makes you ask "Yeah, but what have I done for myself lately?", or "What could I be doing better?" or "How can I help make other peoples lives better?". Because the only way you get answers to those questions is to ask them first. And then grow and move towards them. There is nothing different about how one should think about their nation. I could sit around yelling about how powerful our military is or how powerful our manufacturing sector was post WWII and attempting to take pride in that, but that is worthless. It accomplishes nothing. It does not move us forward, it does not set new goals or agendas. And it completely ignores the present context, or more global context of history, or similarly ignores the experiences of black America from that rose-colored moment in time people reflect on. So when you say "Make America Great Again" as if you are making a statement that should make me feel ashamed for not joining you in such a call to action, you need to understand we are standing across from you feeling ashamed on your behalf that you so actively choose to not understand the critiques and concerns over shouting such simple platitudes. I want to be "patriotic". But I've watched too many pridefully-ignorant people drape themselves in the flag as a form of deflection and self-preservation to ever know how to show it in the political climate I've grown up in. The current situation only brings this into focus once again. Police brutality is not something that gets fixed by talking about how awesome we are. Racial biases won't disappear in the heart of our people or systems by pretending they don't exist. I could keep listing the laundry list of what we could do better, but it's besides the point of this thread. The point is, one does not create a better life by sitting back and demanding people understand how good you think you are or once were. You get better by asking the right questions and taking action. I hope we do that as a nation ASAP. |
The Author
is a thirty-something guy who hasn't been able to look away from politics since 2010. Around the time he got tired of staring at religion. Archives
June 2020
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