Patriotism

What is Patriotism?

What isn't Patriotism?

I was raised in a middle/upper middle class Republican New England community. My mother was in her 40s before she met anyone who voted for FDR. She thought McCarthy was saving America from Communism.

I was a Rainbow girl (Masonic organization for teenage girls) and through the bow it taught good American and Christian values.

• Love (red)
• Religion (orange) The Importance of religion in all its forms (based on love and forgiveness)
• Nature (yellow) Its Importance in your daily life
• Immortality (green) The understanding of death is a part of life
• Fidelity (blue) Emphasis on being honest and reliable
• Patriotism (indigo) Encouraging citizenship to your country
• Service (violet) Service to others which bind all the colors together

I was picked to hold the office of Love, because I was short and would give a nice balance to the bow. I wanted to be Patriotism because I so believed in the US and the world history I'd been taught.

We had also been taught in civics how the local, state and national governments worked.

I pledged to the flag with the words "under God" once it been added each school morning and sang the The Star Spangle Banner with gusto if off key.

Only at university and subsequent travels and readings did I begin to learn that the history I'd been taught was only part of the story.

If the first patriots though it was okay to turn Boston Harbor into a teapot, later people who rebelled against injustices were considered traitors. A boss celebrated the shooting of the kids at Kent State as they protested the Vietnam war.

I've watched the negative part of the US as it bullies its way around the world, puts some 800 military basis around the world. It attacks other countries. If blacks have made advances they still don't have the privileges I had merely by accident of a white skin birth. The welfare of the planet is not as important as the welfare of the oligarchy.

I've watched the brain washing of the American public.

I see people go nuts over whether someone wears a flag pin or doesn't salute the flag, which really are only pieces of metal and cloth. They represent a myth and not buying into the myth is enough to send social media into convulsions.

Often if you ask people deeper questions about the US, they have no idea what is behind the symbols.

They will yell American soldiers died so a black football player should stand for the national anthem, but he is dishonoring them. They never think his black experience was far different from theirs. As for the soldiers, they don't fight congress when those same soldiers are denied benefits they so need after sacrificing their mental and physical health in illegal wars.

Patriotism is good if you know the story behind the symbol. Patriotism is good if you fight to make the country better for its citizens. Patriotism is best when each citizen does his or her part of live up to the myth...because the myth is wonderful.

Other wise it is just a word found under P in the dictionary.