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Patriotism and Freedom: One and the Same?

What comes to mind when we think of patriotism? Is it military service? Unwavering devotion to our flag and countrymen? Perhaps we imagine doing right by our nation, regardless of personal consequence. These may all be true, but what is commonly thought of is the ideology of freedom. Freedom is a word much like love - we all have our own personal definition - but, for the most part, we are able to agree on this: Freedom is the ability to live our lives as we wish, so long as we do not infringe on the freedoms or civil liberties of those around us.

The question is, though, are we not compromising our own freedoms and civil liberties when we engage in our new and distorted idea of patriotism? Is this, in truth, nationalism disguised in American flag pins, "Support Our Troops" bumper stickers, and "Let's Roll America" radio-jingles? The answer, I believe, is an absolute and resounding yes.

Presently, especially under the current administration, we often hear the talking heads of the mass-media outlets speaking about freedom from an economical standpoint. They talk about the dangers of socialism to our free-market system. They criticize government "bailouts" of businesses in the private sector. They remind us that a free nation like the U.S. needs to sustain this financial process in order to maintain our "freedom."

All the while, they promote government entities such as the military, the police, and international intelligence agencies. There seems to me, to be some sort of a syntax error between the masses. By touting a free-trade market as being the epitome of freedom, they are (whether intentionally or not) desensitizing us to the fact that our civil liberties are dwindling, and it is those said entities that are responsible for this loss of liberty.

We are thought to believe that taxation is proportionately linked to freedom while disregarding all the past and recent intrusions on our privacy and the profiling of entire demographics of people under the banner of freedom and protection. Yes, the people of this country enjoy the feeling of protection, whether it is the day-to-day protection of the police on the streets or the military protection of the homeland.

But it is an unfortunate fact that as we grow our government for the sake of our safety, we also shrink our freedoms as a whole and open ourselves up to a more discretionary police state.

Following World War II, America saw one of the most obvious and compelling

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