Your Humble Blogger just read Michael Kazin’s lengthy and provocative article about A Patriotic Left. It’s got quite a bit to chew on, and I suspect I will wind up disagreeing with much of it, once I’ve got a chance to think about it.
One thing that I like, though, is the sense that the idea of America is a great one. The enactment of that idea has often been monstrous, which has led me and many of us to abandon the idea, at times. A better response is to fight for that idea. Equality, Liberty, and Democracy are not things we were given, once, and have kept. They are goals that never will be fully reached. If the goals are good in themselves, then the struggle to achieve them is good in itself; it is my belief in those goals, my Americanism, which makes me want to fight to make America more, well, more American, by which I mean, more equal, free and democratic.
I remember chatting with a friend once about (I think) immigration, and I mentioned that as an American, I believed in equality before the law, so in the specifics we were discussing I stuck to that belief. He replied, somewhat scornfully, that America had never had equality before the law in that realm, and that on the contrary, American policy had been rather directly set up to privilege one group over another. He was right, and so was I. Because I am an American, I am and ought to be disappointed when my nation fails to live up to its ideals. The fault, though, is not in the ideals. America itself will never be as American as its dreams. We can try, though.
Redintegro Iraq,
-Vardibidian.
Having passed Independence Day with, perhaps for the first time, no formal observance of the celebratory festivities, I’ve been pondering what has become of my Patriotism and all that. I’ve never been one of the “anti-American” left, but right now I’m not feeling exactly pro-America, either. Maybe it would be easier if I could understand just what “America” means — a place, a group of people, a set of principles, a system of government, an actual government, a dream-vision?? Here’s where I find myself at the moment in relation to these possible Americas:
a place — I love the land: the mountains, the priaries, the rivers, the Great Lakes, the swamps, the villages, towns, and cities. I’m willing to push for much better stewardship of the space in which America has grown, which we take too much for granted.
a group of people — I’m very ambivalent about Americans as a people. I think a half-century of imperial power and unprecendented wealth (if not prosperity) has not been good for us. Our communities and civic institutions are in poor shape; we’re arrogant, narrow-minded, selfish, wasteful, cowardly, sloppy, dishonorable, dependent (as opposed to self-reliant), and increasingly corrupt. People are always like that, so our condition isn’t terribly dire, but we’re at a point where, in our national life, our better qualities are being submerged. It’s been a century or more since we’ve had a government that has so perfectly embodied our vices and that has so totally failed to activate our better impulses as has our current one. For most Americans, what does America stand for right now except for material comforts and security? What are Americans willing to stand up for?
A set of principles — V. has given us Equality, Liberty, and Democracy. Good principles, when they are not emptied of their meaning, and I’m ready to defend their right meaning and their proper practice as American. Let equality be equality before the law, equity in the laws themselves, and equality of opportunity. Let liberty include freedom of thought, freedom of speech, freedom of religious belief, and economic self-determination. Our workplace, not our government is often the most serious agent of oppression in our lives. Let democracy be understood to be a means to self-government, which is both the real prerequisite for liberty and the responsibility the accompanies liberty. Real self-government would entail a revitalization of local government, local communities, and local economies, and a reining in, first of Big Business, and then, where possible, of Federal control of local decisions.
A System of Government — As many problems as our system has, I’m not sure there’s a better one out there. The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution have for me the status of sacred texts. I think there’s a reasonable likelihood that the United States will still be governed by the Constititution in another 50 years. If the Constitution is replaced, I doubt the change would be for the better. I think some modification is needed, however. Property rights need to be redefined, esp. with respect to corporations and destructive, wasteful land use; public financing of political campaigns probably ought to be written into the Constitution, since it is fundamental to the continuance of meaningful democracy and the break-up of a stultifying two-party system, and consolidation of the mass media ought also to be Constitutionally proscribed, again, because such consolidation is inimical to meaningful democracy. If the American people have the will to do these things, I think they can be accomplished by well-devised legislation and Constitutional amendments.
An actual government — While the American system of government seems to me to be a good one, the actual government is hardly something I can celebrate, esp. given the current administration. Aside from the systemic problems of corruption, the influence of the military in the government is the biggest problem with it. America, in practice, is as much empire as free republic now, and I have no love for America as empire. The Idea of America can never effectively be projected by military force. It may be successfully defended by such means, but only by placing the Idea of America at risk at home as well as abroad. And surely it is failures of self-government in America that make so many Americans enamored of military discipline. If we knew how, and did, govern ourselves in a condition that maintained our liberty and our integrity, surely the structure of military discipline — its reliance on conformity, brutality, and paternalism — would seem repugnant rather than attractive to most Americans.
Let Freedom Ring!
I should, and will, address your magnificent essay at some length (if only in the conversations I am looking forward to having with you later in the summer).
In the meantime, I’m sure you have seen Jack Newfield’s piece in the Nation; if any others of my Gentle Readers are interested in the Patriotism and the Left issue, this is one (in my arrogant opinion important) take.
Redintegro Iraq,
-V.
I like your description of the idea of America as a set of goals to which we should continually aspire. Those goals are too often unexplored or even unmentioned, casualties of the demonization of the political Other. We should all be striving for the same goals, and our political differences should be treated as questions of approach grounded in a common desire to reach the noble summit we all see in the distance, rather than rooted in inversion or ignorance of that topography.