As I recall from my limited political science, patriotism as we know it is pretty new and came about with the concept of “nations” instead of countries. With the nation, you don’t just happen to live in an area and speak a language and share a religion. Nor do you happen to do this with an indiscriminately large number of people, in addition to being ruled by some sort of common body or person. No, you actually acknowledge this and embrace it, making it part of your identity. This, of course, leads to nations that are larger and smaller than their host countries. Larger, in the form of empire and religion, smaller in the form of special-interest-type groups.

And, of course, since you actively identify with these groups, you have pride in them, because they are part of you. But, I think we all have heard that famous bible quote: “Pride goeth before the fall.” What does nationalism and patriotism do?

Well, first the good. It does help bind a people together. Witness the USA post 9/11. Because of nationalism and patriotism, we swarmed to our collect wounds in NYC and DC and that field in PA. We comforted and consoled, and did what we could to get through the devastation. We then deployed our might against those responsible.

Of course, the bad. Riding that same “we’re number one” attitude, we are then duped into attacking another nation that, while annoying and not exactly led by a nice person, was not directly causing us, or even our interests, harm. I remember watching the live footage of Baghdad in the first ours of Shock and Awe, and wondering what the Hell we were thinking.

And let us not forget some of the other outcomes of severe patriotism. The unilateral attack by the “American” public on anyone even remotely resembling a Muslim. The paranoia that still grips us when we fly or attend major events. The polarization between “parties”, another wonderful invention of our era, of doves and hawks. Patriotism, my friends, is the fuel that burns ideological wars. I find it ironic, in fact, that we always teach our children good sportsmanship, and yet we cannot accept that maybe another country does something better than us, and when they do, we marginalize the thing, such as soccer (but my god, swimming! Now that is important.)

So, how do I celebrate the most patriotic day? In what I think is the right way, and with a mood of reflection. I do not, as it happens, think I live in the greatest country on Earth. I do think that I live in an awesome country though, and I am duly appreciative of that fact. And, for the record, I do not think there is such a thing as “the greatest country on Earth.” Or, perhaps, it just doesn’t exist yet. Because if it did exist, it would have to be the only country on Earth. And yeah, we are a ways off from that.

I read a quote earlier today that went something along the lines of “the next major step in societal evolution will not happen until war is abolished.” Well, I take it a step further: war will not be abolished until patriotism is dead. You can have pride and respect for your country, but this blind idolatry is just that.

Now you may lynch me.