Yesterday I received an award for "California Patriot of the Year - 2015" from the Coalition to Honor America's Heroes. I have no idea why I was picked for this honor: somehow I got on their "one born every minute" mailing list. I know nothing about their organization. I suspect that they might think many of my views to be unpatriotic.
Nonetheless, it prompted me to scribe some thoughts I've had recently on the subjects of patriotism and heroism. I think Kipling gave the best definition of what society calls a hero in his poem if:
If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs... (full poem @: "If," A Poem by Rudyard Kipling)
I don't think that doing your job in a stressful, possibly life-threatening situation is particularly heroic. In the case where I received an army award for valor I simply kept my cool while others were losing theirs. No bravery was involved, just simple self preservation. Those things which for which I was proud of my courage were small and went unnoticed at large. To me a hero is someone who puts himself on the line when he or she doesn't have to without expectation of reward or recognition.
But what I really wanted to address was the subject of "patriotism". In my experience 90% of what is called "patriotism" in the United States is not. It is jingoism. It is: let's jump on the band wagon and pound our chests while loudly proclaiming our tribe is better than anyone else's: "Our country (state,county, city, township), love it or leave it". While regional pride is a fine thing, this nonsense (I and my tribe are better than you and your tribe) is dangerous. To me, a true patriot opposes this type of thinking.
The true patriot is one who acts in a heroic manner for the good of their tribe. Especially those who sacrifice to that end. Most especially those who go oppose the mob opinion. I served in Viet Nam without regret. I laud those who throughout our history have given of themselves, perhaps risking their lives for their country. I respect those who left the U.S. to evade the Viet Nam war but those who stayed behind and fought it were, in my book the at least as TRUE patriots.
For a democracy to function it is absolutely necessary that unpopular opinions be heard lest the democratic process be overwhelmed by the "tyranny of the majority". To publicly express an unpopular opinion requires courage. To be a heroic patriot means standing up to the crowd and saying "you're wrong" and "here's why."
