In honor of Independence Day, CNN ran this article about patriotism. I especially like the one that says “Patriotism is action—that is, service.” Really, that says it.
Too many people forget that patriotism isn’t about one particular thing. We get caught up in the symbols (Can I burn a flag? Walk on it? Tear a dollar bill?) and lose sight of the bigger issue of what those symbols represent. Patriotism is often captured in the colors we wear or the small gestures we make, say, when placing a hand over our heart before a ball game, but ultimately patriotism is too big to be adequately expressed through symbols alone. Patriotism is a way of life, a culture of love (in the ‘brotherly love’/service/do unto others… sense of the word) that is either reinforced or weakened every time we make a decision. When we punish people for demanding more of our leaders and turn “holding leaders accountability” into an act of treason, patriotism is eroded. When artists feel emboldened to degrade national symbols, it is a reflection of diminished patriotism within the country at large. And when good people stay away from political leadership because they cannot reconcile their integrity with the decisions they would be forced to make… well, that may be the most corrosive form of patriotic disintegration of all.
But when the population holds onto hope, when the people abandon their leaders who have abandoned them and instead begin to solve their problems locally; when—out of frustration of convoluted transactional laws—people begin to reacquaint themselves with their neighbors so they can avoid the courts and work on a handshake instead, people are reigniting their sense of patriotism. It is when people ask the hard questions, of themselves and others, and show the courage to own up to their shortcomings and then show the tenacity to work to overcome them, that great things happen. America is about making great things happen. It was acts like these that gave birth to this nation, and it is acts like these that will nurse it back to health during tough times.
It is acts like these that demonstrate patriotism; Joe Ellis wrote that “before we were a nation of laws, we were a nation of men.“ It is precisely through acts of service (to others!) that our patriotism will be re-established.
Jason Seiden is Co-founder and CEO of Ajax Social Media, a training company that shows professionals how use social media to work more effectively.
I'm the CEO of Ajax Social Media. We're helping 1 million people shine by making their online stories better. 