I pray they do. I pray they love this country and unlike most adults, they can make the distinction between nationalism and patriotism. Patriotism is a love for your country which includes harsh examination and a willingness to improve. Nationalism should never be confused with patriotism. Nationalists never question what we do, they justify and rationalize. They don't examine nor do they improve. Nationalism does not require personal courage, in fact, it is the path of cowards.

Young Americans are going to have to make that distinction or we are going to lose our ability to improve and our credibility on the world stage. Ignoring that difference will ensure that nothing ever changes and ultimately, it will lead to disaster. It has to.

Nationalists believe that anything our democracy does is justified. A couple of examples are in order here.

Shortly after Dec., 1941, The United States government decided to strip Japanese Americans of all their rights. Fear and control seized the day as the national sentiment and belief was that Japanese Americans would help Japan destroy our country. Thousands of Japanese Americans were placed into internment camps for the balance of the war. They lost their homes and businesses, their freedom, and some lost their lives. Older Americans don't like to talk about this too much. They like to justify the sentiment of the day. They like to rationalize it because their collective egos simply cannot honestly examine what they did. What they did was a pure form of nationalism. The patriots of that day were overwhelmed. The nationalists won. Anything this country does is right, isn't it?

After the Sept. 11, 2001, attack on the World Trade Center, the United States government and the C.I.A. began kidnapping suspected terrorists around the world. They were imprisoned in secret places and many were taken to Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. Of the hundreds of detainees, only three were ever tried. Many were held several years, stripped of due process. Some were tortured. Yet prior to that, Americans believed in civil rights, due process, and human rights. So how was it that we could not practice those things? Once again, nationalism seized the day. We believed that we were justified in what we did. Unable to practice honest self scrutiny, we submitted ourselves to stripping people of the same human rights we claim as a virtue. Make no mistake about it, this had nothing to do with patriotism.

True patriotism requires great courage. Patriotism is not herd mentality. It is the ability to examine what this country is doing. If it is not honest and fair, if it does not meet moral, ethical, or legal thresholds-accepted practice that we hold near and dear-then we simply can't condone it. If we do, then we don't really believe in any of that do we?

I pray that a young America will make this distinction. I hope they will see the difference and escape this ridiculous nationalistic mindset and dual standard that whatever we do is right and abandon values and principles in the process. It takes great personal courage to be a patriot and they are in short supply. Nationalists, argh...not so much.

Learn more about this author, Garrett Anderson.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.

---

Add your voice

Know something about Do younger Americans care about patriotism??
We want to hear your view. Write now!