Why Many Americans Are Averse to Unironic Expressions of Patriotism

[xchrom]

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2013/10/why-many-americans-are-averse-to-unironic-expressions-of-patriotism/280317/



Pat Sajak, longtime host of Wheel of Fortune, recently taped an episode featuring contestants drawn from active-duty members of the United States military. Observing their dedication, patriotism, and willingness to serve and sacrifice, he was moved to voice his concerns about a divide he perceives in the America.

"I’m not talking about a political divide or a racial divide, but a divide based on — how to best phrase it? — an emotional investment in our nation," he wrote. "The two Americas I see are the one populated by those who truly think of this nation as exceptional and who are comfortable with patriotic themes and moved by the majesty of the founding documents, and the one populated by those who find all that rather uncomfortable or, perhaps worse, don’t ever think about those things at all. Is it just our cynical Twitter age? Is it our political class? Our educational system? Is it our modern media? Is it an all-volunteer military? Is it a populace drowning in mind-numbing digital playthings? Why do so many people seem detached from our nation and all it stands for?"

Similar worries are widespread among a subset of Americans, many of them political conservatives. As the comments beneath Sajak's post illustrate, their earnest concern hasn't helped them to see the subject clearly, or to identify why some Americans are put off by displays of patriotism that other Americans venerate. The most significant explanation is simple. Confronted with displays of patriotism, many Americans react with ironic distance as a defense mechanism. They are wary that cynical actors are exploiting patriotic impulses and symbols as tools of manipulation because cynical actors frequently do just that.

Ironic detachment isn't high on my list of worrisome problems the United States faces. But those who worry about such things ought to identify the real culprits. They shouldn't blame the zeitgeist, or the education system, or the modern media.

[Recursion]

1. I think Sajak has it wrong; it's about interpretation of symbols rather than emotional investment

in the country.

And I'm on the national anthem and bunting side of things, personally. My favorite holiday is July 4th; I wear my service pin on veterans' day; I stand whenever the flag passes in a parade. And I don't just do that, I really love that stuff. It makes me happy. What I don't do is think that my interface with symbols like that is the only expression of patriotism. It's mine; it reflects my experience and my background, and I consciously own it. But people who are turned off by displays like that are just as much engaged in patriotism as I am -- probably more, since they have to go against the crowd to do that.

Good article.

[el_bryanto]

2. That's a well done article.

I was initially concerned, but he threaded the needle very well and made some excellent points. One of my contentions is that by focusing exclusively on what America has done wrong, or portraying Americans as nothing but black hearted sheeple, you aren't going to really be able to convince them you have their best interests in heart.

"America has great potential, lets work together to see it live up to it's highest ideals."
"America is a racist violent nation of people who don't think; elect me so I can fix it."

One of those statements is more inspiring, in my opinion.

Bryant

[geek tragedy]

3. Those fake patriots are the ones threatening to destroy our economy because their feelings are hurt.

They aren't patriots, they're reconstructed Confederate seditionists.

[Orsino]

4. With the greatest income inequality ever in his life staring him in the face...

...Sajak wrings his hands over flags and other symbols.

What a tool (of the powerful).

[Bluenorthwest]

5. Sajak is a right winger deluxe.

Here is Pat on Fox, 'splaining about the liberals in Hollywood.
http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2011/03/04/pat-sajak-hollywood-really-cares/?test=faces

[Fumesucker]

6. Commenter Winston Chang on that thread..

Loving your country is like loving your mom: It gets a little creepy when you overdo the displays of affection.

[xchrom]

7. !

[TwilightGardener]

8. He's thinking of FAKE patriotism--the Republican kind. It disappears when there's

a Democratic/black President. It will reappear when they "take their country back". It has nothing to do with genuine love for this country and its people, history and institutions--it's totally superficial.

[Javaman]

9. pat sajak is a right wing hack. nt

[Aristus]

10. I'm averse to un-ironic displays of patriotism

when those displays are intended to shut down debate over how to fix the things that are wrong with our country. Or if they are used as a mask to hide the very notion that anything could ever be wrong with our country.

I hate those displays when they are used as props in a game of "more-patriotic-than-thou".

I'm averse to the notion that any problem can be solved effectively by waving the flag at it.

I'm averse to the notion that the flag is somehow sacred, and must be treated and handled as if it were a holy relic.

I'm averse to the notion that a citizen doesn't need to offer his nation anything more than flag-waving, "USA#1!"-shouting, and weepy-'look-at-how-patriotic-I-am" renditions of the National Anthem.

I crewed a tank in the Gulf in 1991 and have the medals to prove it.

I don't need to wear the baseball caps with "Operation Desert Storm" on them. I don't need to display the bumperstickers on my car. And I have never shouted "Support The Troops!" at people with the understanding that I did, and that that made me 'more American' than anyone who didn't shout it.

[ellenfl]

11. well said. uber-nationalism often stems from hypocrisy, in my experience. eom

[Rex]

12. Pat obviously misses the point.

He is trying thought, but it still seems to be failing.

[MisterP]

13. there's also 1) tastefulness factors and 2) separation of patriotism and politics

(like what the UK has (Falklands excluded, when Thatcher attacked her fellow fascists for domestic Brownie points))

[KoKo]

14. I think after "9/11" and the Invasion of Iraq, the RW Religious Fundamentalists,

the birth Tea Party ("Patriots&quot along with the use of the Flag in the past as an emblem for support for Vietnam War made many of us who loved the celebrations and truly thought of our country as a place of people of all persuasions working together for the "Common Good" sort of begin to feel that there was something else behind super patriotism that was maybe not so good for our country's present and future.

The Symbol of our American fight for Independence had somehow been taken over and used for support for War and to oppress people in our country who began to question our Government's policies both abroad and at home. It's become a symbol for "American Exceptionalism" and Loyalty to "My Country Right or Wrong." The wearing of Flag Pins by those seeking office and serving in Government to symbolize how much more patriotic they are than others doesn't seem to be anything more than token respect for for the Flag they sport.