COMMUNITIES AGAINST CAPITALISM
 

American Patriotism Today
By L. Moore
March 12, 2003

The people of this country are split down the middle on whether the U.S. should go to war with Iraq.  This clear division of what I call “supra-patriots” for war and “the rest of us” who oppose it has boggled my mind for some time.  The radical nature of supra-patriotism after September 11, 2001 suggests that the difference is based on having a completely different worldview from each other.

I’d like to go out on a limb and suggest that patriotism, as seen recently, is born in how “us and them” is conceptualized and dealt with as we’re growing up.  Our public education system focuses on America as it was conceptualized and written down in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution over 200 years ago.  We are taught that our country is somehow unique in the history of the world; our forefathers were greater than those of other countries.  They had to fight against incredible odds for our freedom and we are forever in their debt.  We are the only country in the whole world that is REALLY democratic, REALLY believes in freedom, and all MEN are created equal (except for Blacks until the late 1800s).  All these concepts that we learn to believe in like Freedom, Liberty, and Justice for all are taken at face value and accepted as reality – even when they clearly aren’t practiced in society. 

The biggest failure of the public education system is its lack of including America into the rest of the world.  Schools don’t advocate learning about other countries unless they serve some American purpose.  In my high school we had the option of learning Spanish, French, or German when the most common languages in our area were probably Spanish, Chinese, and Tagolog (Philippino).  So why French and German in Southern California?  Could it be that these two countries are our political allies?  They sure won’t help us get a job around here. 

World history in my high school American History class began with Ancient Greece.  It mentions Asia and Africa as “trade partners” and later as places we conquered.  From this perspective you’re likely to think that the Europeans who later became the White Americans always existed in Europe, were always white, and always on top of the world.  None of which is true, but you don’t learn about that until you’re a senior or in college – and only if you happen to major in history or some other social science. 

We are taught to believe in America as a symbol, not as a real existing place in the world with interactions and consequences.  This is why some people get so enraged when it is criticized, doubted, and challenged.  Believing in America is like believing in God – an act of faith that doesn’t require a rational explanation or proof of existence.  We believe in one God, oh I mean one Nation under God… Separation of church and state may have caused the state to become the church.