Why is patriotism a virtue we should strive for?
Why do we owe our allegiance to a country we didn’t choose, that we were just born into by happenstance, a country that has a myriad list of faults. Both the left and the right can name the particular faults they find most egregious.
Many young people today don’t understand the importance of patriotism. It’s not necessarily our fault. It just went out of style. Our parents took the pledge of allegiance out of school. They taught us a history which we felt we couldn’t be proud of but had to apologize for. No wonder young people don’t understand why we should love our country.
I was raised in an old-fashioned family. My Dad flew the flag in our front yard proudly, no matter what was going on in the news. We celebrated the Fourth of July with a BBQ. We learned the pledge of allegiance and the national anthem. I was taught to be patriotic, to love the country that raised me.
I’ve always respected America, but at a certain point, I did have to think through the reasoning why for myself. Every young person has to ask themselves why, why do I believe the values my parents taught me? Now, I don’t advocate you throw out all the lessons your parents taught you, but it is important to ask why. At some point, you need to make those values your own, otherwise you’ll never grow up. A child cleans their room because their parents tell them to. An adult does it so he can have a clean room in which to get his work done. That’s the difference.
My Experience
As I entered adulthood, I had a lot of questions about patriotism and allegiance to one’s country. Is America truly the best country around? Was the founding really that great? Why was a country founded on the ideas of freedom also built on the backs of slaves? What about all the evils of today? Does any of it matter if the great American experiment failing? Is America failing? Is my country worth loving or serving?
Ultimately, the main question that I was asking is, “why should I be patriotic?”
G.K. Chesterton helped me with a simple answer. He explains what true patriotism is by using optimism and pessimism as counter examples. He says that an optimist is a person who only sees the good in the world, and a pessimist only the bad. Neither has an accurate or helpful perspective. The optimist is foolish and does not see the faults before him, so he does not correct them, and the pessimist is in danger of despair, and therefore not doing anything constructive with his life.
I have seen both of these types of people in the world today. There are those who love America and defend her, perhaps blindly. There are also those who hate her and all that she stands for. They threaten to leave at a moment’s notice when anything doesn’t go their way.
Chesterton goes on to explain that patriotism is neither of these. He says it is a matter of loyalty.
The world is not a lodging-house at Brighton, which we are to leave because it is miserable. It is the fortress of our family, with the flag flying on the turret, and the more miserable it is the less we should leave it. The point is not that this world is too sad to love to too glad not to love; the point is that when you do love a thing, its gladness is a reason for loving it, and its sadness a reason for loving it more.[1]
Neither the optimist nor the pessimist is correct. Because of course, we cannot expect anything in this world to be perfect. There are always going to be faults, but we cannot abandon our home just because it needs repairs. The faults only mean that we must love it more so that we can make those repairs. If a thing is ugly or imperfect, but you love it, you want to improve it, and it becomes beautiful. This is how, Chesterton says, cities become great, “Men did not love Rome because she was great. She was great because they had loved her.”[2]
The patriot is the person who sees their home accurately, faults and virtues, and loves their home simply because it is theirs. The patriot is not blind to their country’s imperfections, but has such a sense of loyalty, that they recognize the shortcomings and strive to improve them.
This virtue is desperately needed today.
For those struggling with America’s many imperfections, you are not wrong. She is broken and imperfect, but that is precisely the reason it is so important to love her all the more. Because without love and loyalty, she will not become the country that she is intended to be.
My answer to my question became very simple. I love America because she is my home.
[1] G.K. Chesterton, Collected Works, vol. 1, Heretics, Orthodoxy, The Blatchford Controversies (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1986), 270.
[2] G.K. Chesterton, Collected Works, vol. 1, Heretics, Orthodoxy, The Blatchford Controversies (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1986), 271.