“For even if the end is the same for a single man and for a state, that of the state seems at all events something greater and more complete whether to attain or to preserve; though it is worthwhile to attain the end merely for one man, it is finer and more godlike to attain it for a nation.”
Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics
Perhaps especially when the practice of politics reaches a certain point of decay, the very notion of patriotism can come in for criticism.
Alasdair MacIntyre has pointed out that within a few generations in twentieth century America the term patriotism went from naming a virtue to, for many people, naming a vice.
It would be worth briefly recalling a couple of things that patriotism traditionally has and has not been.
Patriotism need not imply that one judges his own homeland to be objectively superior to other nations with an unreflective ‘we’re better than you are’ attitude. A patriot should be able to realize when his own nation needs to learn from other nations, or from its own history.
Similarly, patriotism is not an attitude of the big kid on the block: don’t mess with me ‘cause if you do I’m going to kick your backside. A patriot—though committed to a proper military preparedness and to a profound honoring of soldierly deeds—need not be a supporter of particular military interventions, and indeed may sometimes be a conscientious objector.
Patriotism must include an attitude of gratitude, consciously cultivating an awareness of countless blessings received through the efforts of countless persons. These named and nameless ranks include soldiers and statesmen, as well as common working people who have put first things first over the course of generations.
Patriotism involves proper pride and strong emotions, expressed and passed on by songs and poetry, parades and celebrations. Yet at root patriotism is an ongoing choice of the will. By an often inscrutable Providence our lot has been cast with the community of a particular nation. A patriot chooses to recognize, and observe by concrete actions, that the whole is greater than the part. Indeed, if as Aristotle asserts the flourishing of society is a greater good—is more ‘god-like’—than the individual’s good, the patriot asks what this truth means in day to day life. He cultivates true patriotism as an essential feature of his own household.
Patriotism transcends the often petty issues and prejudices of a degenerate ‘politics.’ It is a bedrock of unselfishness and rational activism, from which a good political order can grow, or be restored.
Happy July Fourth to my fellow countrymen.
Husband, father, and professor of Philosophy. Bacon from Acorns springs from one conviction: there is an ancient wisdom about how to live the good life in our homes, with our families; and it is worth our time to hearken to it. Let’s rediscover it together. Learn more.
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Jesus was a patriot for His Jewish nation. He didn’t come to destroy its teachings but to enhance them and to teach them to all nations so that all might attain salvation. In somewhat of the same way, we should be grateful for the Judeo/Christian principals upon which our nation was founded. We should protect and promote those principals in order to maintain the blessed nation God has granted us. That is what patriotism is. That is how our immigration policy should be formulated.
For some time the idea of patriotism has not meant “an attitude of gratitude, consciously cultivating an awareness of countless blessings received through the efforts of countless persons. These named and nameless ranks include soldiers and statesmen, as well as common working people who have put first things first over the course of generations” but an attitude of revolt, of revolution against all things and all efforts of countless persons who sacrificed and suffered much in their lives to make life better for others, particularly for future generations. For these, the past generations were purveyor’s of destruction and death as they did not recognize modern definitions of freedom, rights, and human dignity, which in reality, are definitions of enslaving man’s body and soul to a constant determination to create man and society in the image of man rather than in the image and likeness of God.