“I am a Patriot, And I Love My Country”

I was distracted for a good part of Sunday by Jonathon Delacour’s Patriotism and the martial state , which makes an all-too convincing argument that America is a martial state that is mired in a mind-numbing patriotism.

Of course, I realize as a Vietnam Veteran who periodically complains that most of my life has been dominated by war that I’m probably not in the ideal position to counter that argument. In fact, merely having to make that admission makes me wonder if Jonathon isn’t right.

Still, like Yossarian’s girl friend who protests Yossarian’s cynical view of God when Yosarian points out that she has previously said she didn’t believe in God:

“I don’t,” she sobbed, bursting violently into tears. “But the God I don’t believe in is a good God, a just God, a merciful God. He’s not the mean and stupid God you make Him out to be.”

I would cry out that the patriotism that I don’t believe in, the patriotism that most Americans pledge allegiance to isn’t the chauvinistic patriotism of “my country right or wrong” but, rather, the patriotism that Jackson Browne celebrates in:

I AM A PATRIOT

And the river opens for the righteous
And the river opens for the righteous
And the river opens for the righteous
And the river opens for the righteous
And the river opens for the righteous
Someday

I was walking with my brother
And he wondered what’s on my mind
I said what I believe in my soul
Ain’t what I see with my eyes
And we can’t turn our backs this time

I am a patriot
And I love my county
Because my country is all I know
I want to be with my family
The people who understand me
I’ve got nowhere else to go

And the river opens for the righteous
And the river opens for the righteous
And the river opens for the righteous
Someday

And I was talking with my sister
She looked so fine
I said, “Baby, what’s on your mind?”
She said, “I want to run like the lion
Released from the cages
Released from the rages
Burning in my heart tonight”

And I ain’t no communist
And I ain’t no capitalist
And I ain’t no socialist
And I ain’t no imperialist
And I ain’t no democrat
Sure ain’t no republican
I only know one party
And it is freedom

I am, I am, I am
I am a patriot
And I love my country
Because my county is all I know

And the river opens for the righteous
And the river opens for the righteous
And the river opens for the righteous
Someday

And the river opens for the righteous…
And the river opens for the righteous…
And the river opens for the righteous…
And the river opens for the righteous…

I want to run like the lion
And the river opens for the righteous…
And the river opens for the righteous…
Released from the cages
I said what I believe in my soul
It ain’t what I see with my eyes
And the river opens for the righteous…

Someday,
And the river opens for the righteous…
Someday
And the river opens for the righteous…
Someday
And the river opens for the righteous…
Someday

For most Americans what they believe in their soul isn’t what they see with their eyes.

Recent book signings to the contrary, few Americans I’ve known have idolized The President, though dead and retired presidents are generally held in much higher regard than sitting presidents.

Like Jackson Browne, most Americans reserve their patriotism for the concept of “freedom.” Even in our “pledge of allegiance” we pledge allegiance to “liberty and justice for all,” not just a nation.

I would certainly agree that far too many of America’s recent militaristic interventions have been driven by capitalistic aims. Generally, though, it has taken an act of aggression, real or imagined, to lead us to war. Despite Hitler’s aggession in Europe, Americans were unwilling to go to war until the Japanese attacked us at Pearl Harbor.

Although recent wars may suggest Jonathon correct in his assessment, the fact is that less than 4% of the Gdp is spent on the military. Even the chickenhawks don’t dare suggest reinstituting the draft, knowing that it would inevitably end their political career. If America is a “military state” it is a militarly state where most citizens do not want to be in the military and where most people have a vague distrust of generals and their lock-step conformity.

In reality, America hasn’t conquered the world through military might, but through capitalism. There’s little need for armed might when other country’s avarice makes them willing victims of our capitalistic system because it promises them the same kind of endless (dis)satisfaction that American consumers enjoy. Though Mick Jagger’s “Can’t Get No Satisfaction” may sell songs, unfortunately most of his followers are dissatisfied because they haven’t attained his lavish lifestyle, not because they don’t believe the commercials that overwhelm their existence.