There's a meme going around on social media. It's called Patriotism vs. Nationalism. Sounds like a distinction work making, doesn't it? Yet, I was offended when I first watched it.
Why? Well, let me start by focusing on the “vs.” or versus in the title. The post was initially promoted by a group
with a Facebook page called America Versus.
Should every topic worth discussing start by positioning it as
oppositional?
In Patriotism vs. Nationalism, the 3-minute video correctly
defines the difference between the terms and supports its POV with snippets
from liberal icons including President Obama, Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA) and
Martin Luther King, Jr., all of whom promote the idea that dissent is patriotic. There are no quotes or video snippets
supporting an alternative POV. There is
simply the implication that those who disagree are less intelligent than those
who do.
Now, to be clear, I agree
with the distinction being made. So, why am I offended? Because
we are better than this. This video
is intended to further polarize us. If
you are liberal, it feeds your confirmation bias. If its producers had wanted to get conservatives
to think about or reconsider their view, they might have used quotes from the
founders. For example, here’s what
Thomas Jefferson said on the subject:
"The spirit of resistance to government is so
valuable on certain occasions, that I wish it to be always kept alive. It will
often be exercised when wrong, but better so than not to be exercised at all. I
like a little rebellion now and then."
The person who posted the video is someone I consider to be
a friend despite our political differences.
(Yes, that’s possible.) I didn’t
respond to his post. I simply sent him a
video that approaches our differences differently: an 8-minute video from PBS discussing
the origins of our political beliefs. If
you take the time to watch it, you’ll recognize friends and neighbors – people
whose company you enjoy. To me, it
offers us the space to consider how people develop different values and the
perspective not to hate those with whom we may disagree. At some level, it creates empathy.
I would rather start any political discussion there, not
with the word versus in the headline.
Many pundits date the beginning of the culture war to the
60’s. Barry Goldwater ran for president
from the extreme right wing and was defeated by the liberal LBJ. The Supreme Court gave us Miranda Rights and
banned prayer in school. The war in
Vietnam divided the country. African
Americans protested Jim Crow laws in the Deep South. The country was divided then as it is now.
In its midst, I received a letter from Bobby Kennedy. It’s dated May 29, 1967, a year and a few
days before he was gunned down in Los Angeles.
It’s framed and hangs on the wall above my desk. Bobby Kennedy ran for president in 1968 from
the liberal left. Today, I would not
agree with his politics or policy prescriptions. Yet, his letter hangs over my desk because none
of that mattered then nor does it matter now.
He simply expressed that he knew that my “family must be very proud”
that the US Navy had offered me a scholarship and that he “would like to join
with … friends and family in offering … congratulations.”
I am sure he wrote thousands of those letters while serving
as New York’s representative in the U.S. Senate. I am sure that every member of Congress has
long sent similar letters. Yet, it’s
special to me because it’s a touchstone.
Yes, I know that nostalgia improves our memories of times gone by. However, I remember the 60’s as a time when,
divided as we might have been, we were able to move forward as a nation. Social media didn’t exist and mass media wasn’t
engaged in trying to divide us.
The problem I have with the versus crowd is not what they have to say or what they
believe. It’s the laziness of their
approach. It’s this or that. If this is good, that must be bad. If you don’t believe this, you must believe
that. If this is good and that is bad,
you must be bad. People are complex and
life is complicated. The world isn’t divided
into binary choices of good and evil.
WHO WILL LEAD?
