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jenny_islander"Lesson 19: Be a patriot. Set a good example of what America means for the generations to come. They will need it.
"What is patriotism? Let us begin with what patriotism is not."
In my recaps of this book, I have kept the precise antics of the current tyrant out of my posts. He and his ilk would love to dominate our thoughts in that way, as if witnessing them were more important than acting against them, and there are already plenty of headlines circulating online. So I will not quote all of Snyder's supporting examples. I will say that Snyder is dignified, restrained, and skilled in the use of the plain English literary style to make his intent clear. His litany of things that are not patriotic fills two pages, beginning with "It is not patriotic to dodge the draft and to mock war heroes" and ending with "It is not patriotic to try to end democracy." Between them is a steadily increasing drumbeat of rage--more increased and deepened, I think, because this chapter was clearly revised for the second publication in 2021. Snyder never has to name the person he is describing--the one person who has done all of these things. If you know anyone who is wavering about how bad things really are right now, please purchase a copy of this book from Thriftbooks or the like and give it to them, with a bookmark between pages 112 and 113.
"A nationalist might do all these things," Snyder says next, "but a nationalist is not a patriot. A nationalist encourages us to be our worst, and then tells us that we are the best...[that] the only truth is the resentment we feel when we contemplate others... A patriot, by contrast, wants the nation to live up to its ideals, which means asking us to be our best selves. A patriot must be concerned with the real world, which is the only place where his country can be loved and sustained."
Nationalists who are not entirely mired in resentment will say "it can't happen here," because the failure of those parts of democracy that they still value does not fit into their imaginary world, in which they control reality through sheer will and strong emotion. Patriots, Snyder says, will look at the same signs and respond, "It could happen here, but...we will stop it."
So what does this mean for us?
Because tyranny loves to wallow in patriotic symbols and bathetic worship of a vaguely described ideal of greatness, it can be tempting to throw the baby out with the bathwater. Just yesterday I saw a post by someone confessing that they now expect the worst if they see a flag of our nation on the property of their neighbor. But remember Lesson 4: Take responsibility for the face of the world. Remember Lessons 10 and 11: Believe in truth and Investigate. Before all this claptrap invaded the 24-hour news cycle--before the time before that--before, let's say, 2001--what did patriotism look like? I am not speaking of a long-gone ideal: beware of that assumption! I am not trying to cover up the sins of omission and commission that have been done in the name of patriotism or by patriots. But before tyranny grabbed the microphone, what did it mean to be a patriot?
Look for the writings of people who got up and did. Martin Luther King, Jr. comes to mind. Read beyond the snippets that are quoted every year. You could do this for anybody whose words you know only via a few quotes trotted out on national occasions. Do not be caught up by the need to worship and feel justified; understand that every one of these people is fallible and has done wrong, as have you and everyone you know. Look at what they have done right and at what they have to say, and put that into practice.
I end this recap with a quote from patriot and refugee Carl Schurz: "My country, right or wrong; if right, to be kept right; and if wrong, to be set right."
"What is patriotism? Let us begin with what patriotism is not."
In my recaps of this book, I have kept the precise antics of the current tyrant out of my posts. He and his ilk would love to dominate our thoughts in that way, as if witnessing them were more important than acting against them, and there are already plenty of headlines circulating online. So I will not quote all of Snyder's supporting examples. I will say that Snyder is dignified, restrained, and skilled in the use of the plain English literary style to make his intent clear. His litany of things that are not patriotic fills two pages, beginning with "It is not patriotic to dodge the draft and to mock war heroes" and ending with "It is not patriotic to try to end democracy." Between them is a steadily increasing drumbeat of rage--more increased and deepened, I think, because this chapter was clearly revised for the second publication in 2021. Snyder never has to name the person he is describing--the one person who has done all of these things. If you know anyone who is wavering about how bad things really are right now, please purchase a copy of this book from Thriftbooks or the like and give it to them, with a bookmark between pages 112 and 113.
"A nationalist might do all these things," Snyder says next, "but a nationalist is not a patriot. A nationalist encourages us to be our worst, and then tells us that we are the best...[that] the only truth is the resentment we feel when we contemplate others... A patriot, by contrast, wants the nation to live up to its ideals, which means asking us to be our best selves. A patriot must be concerned with the real world, which is the only place where his country can be loved and sustained."
Nationalists who are not entirely mired in resentment will say "it can't happen here," because the failure of those parts of democracy that they still value does not fit into their imaginary world, in which they control reality through sheer will and strong emotion. Patriots, Snyder says, will look at the same signs and respond, "It could happen here, but...we will stop it."
So what does this mean for us?
Because tyranny loves to wallow in patriotic symbols and bathetic worship of a vaguely described ideal of greatness, it can be tempting to throw the baby out with the bathwater. Just yesterday I saw a post by someone confessing that they now expect the worst if they see a flag of our nation on the property of their neighbor. But remember Lesson 4: Take responsibility for the face of the world. Remember Lessons 10 and 11: Believe in truth and Investigate. Before all this claptrap invaded the 24-hour news cycle--before the time before that--before, let's say, 2001--what did patriotism look like? I am not speaking of a long-gone ideal: beware of that assumption! I am not trying to cover up the sins of omission and commission that have been done in the name of patriotism or by patriots. But before tyranny grabbed the microphone, what did it mean to be a patriot?
Look for the writings of people who got up and did. Martin Luther King, Jr. comes to mind. Read beyond the snippets that are quoted every year. You could do this for anybody whose words you know only via a few quotes trotted out on national occasions. Do not be caught up by the need to worship and feel justified; understand that every one of these people is fallible and has done wrong, as have you and everyone you know. Look at what they have done right and at what they have to say, and put that into practice.
I end this recap with a quote from patriot and refugee Carl Schurz: "My country, right or wrong; if right, to be kept right; and if wrong, to be set right."
