Earn This!

The BBQ Pit
1

This is going to be a bit disorganized and rambling. I’ve been trying to put this together in my head for the past day or so and given enough time I might be able to make it make more sense, but right now, I’m just a little bit pissed.

I think most of the dopers here don’t really fit into he category of the people I’m talking about here. And please don’t get the idea that I begrudge anybody their patriotism in the last few days. That’s exactly the feeling we should have in America right now, and in my opinion we’re on the right track.

But on my way home from work this morning, I passed a long line of cars lined up to recieve free posters of the American flag with the words “God Bless America” and the thought occurred to me :

Half of these people probably aren’t even registered to vote. Most have probably never been to a town council meeting. If pressed, I suspect more than a few of them couldn’t tell you who their congressman or senators are.

And I was reminded of the words that Captain Miller said to Private Ryan at the end of Saving Private Ryan :

“Earn this.”

Somebody tell me I’m wrong, but the message seems to be that being an American means that we all come together in times of great tragedy, but the rest of the time, screw it. I’ve seen too many people flying the flag lately that couldn’t have given a damn previously about what it really means to be an American. It means voting. It means community involvement. It means getting out there and making this country work.

I hope this tragedy changes things for the better and makes people see what we have here and how we’ve taken for granted the benefits of liberty and democracy. I really hope it does.

But goddammit, for everyone who wants to ride the coat tails of (probably more than) 5000 people dead and suddenly declare their patriotism, you had better get out there from now on and earn it. Vote. Get involved. Be an active part of what America is.

It’s going to take a hell of a lot of work to create a future where this kind of tragedy doesn’t happen again.

But we owe the victims of September 11th that much.

2

Hear, hear.

I agree totally.

3

Amen. Very well put, Euty. You’ve earned it.

4

I was JUST writing an article tentatively titled “Wednesday Morning Patriots”. I am still writing it, hopefully for publication at a later date, as A) I do not wish to be accused of milking this tragedy for a byline and 2) at the moment it falls into the category of “don’t we have more important things to worry about right now?”*

However, whoever posts to this thread, may I use your comments and opinions on the subject (in general, not specifically) as part of my research?
*I don’t believe this is a minor dealie, but I know other people do.

5

Also in and among my slightly-pissed-off snotty questions are things like “And when did you last give blood, donate to the Red Cross, volunteer, etc. BEFORE this happened? If the answer is ‘Right after Columbine, Oklahoma City, etc.’ I will be wanting a word with you, too.”

6

?? :confused: ??

…stumbling around drunk on burgundy wine :wink:

7

Amen brother.

These people are what I call jumpin’ on the bandwagon, Johnny come latelys.

I vote, I salute the flag, I know the words and sing the Star Spangled Banner at sporting events, I stand and applaud the Color Guard at parades.

I do this because of the values instilled upon me by my Dad, a POW in WWII, someone who showed me why being patriotic is a good thing.

I don’t need no stinkin’ poster to be Patriotic, I don’t need no national disaster to show my support. I do all the time.

8

It’s a crying shame that it takes tragedy to awaken poeple, but I won’t begrudge them their belated awareness. They’re not “riding the coat-tails” of anyone, they’re just a little slow on the uptake. Never-the-less, these are not patriots-come-lately, they’ve just been napping, and will provide the support and sacrifice we need, just as much as those of us who were awake the whole time. This has been the American Way from the begining, and I’d be startled if it changed now.
LifeOnWry
You’re welcome to my words, if they’re any use in your research.

9

I agree TOTALLY here. Sorry, Euty, but I absolutely disagree with your O.P. People here have mothers and fathers that fought in wars, and yet THEY haven’t had to. ( NO Disrespect for the Desert Storm vets, I meant, no large scale drafts ).

We fight when we need to, and enjoy the illusion of peacetime when we don’t need to fight. This isn’t Israel, we do not quite yet live in a military state. IMHO that just changed, however. People may not adhere to the practices that you feel make a good American, or a patriot- and yet deserve the same rights and freedoms, and right to expressions.

I personally feel that while all of the things you mentioned are important in MY life, I don’t dare begrudge ANYONE the right to NOT be as involved civically. We fight for freedom of both expression AND lack of expression.

It’s a long-assed stretch to say, " If you don’t walk the walk, you are not an American". I’m sorry, but I respectfully disagree with your entire postulate. And you know what? If called, some of those silent invisible citizens you decried will step up and have their bodies blown to bits, just like the ones who march in the Memorial Day Parades.

Can’t pre judge too much here, I feel.

There are silent, non-participating millions in this country, weeping bitterly this week.

My two cents. :frowning:

Cartooniverse

10

Just my take on this- I repeat, JUST MY TAKE on it: I don’t think that Eutychus is saying if you don’t walk the walk, you have no right to the grief shared by all Americans right now. I THINK what’s being said here is that it is a pity that we NEED a crisis of this magnitude to wake the patriot that may indeed be living at all times inside us. I don’t begrudge anyone their feelings, but I would like to live in a world where this kind of tragedy isn’t the mobilizing factor. Just because you don’t fly the flag daily doesn’t mean you’re an asshole… but I’d like to see that kind of patriotism and loyalty displayed as routine.

Personally - and I repeat, PERSONALLY - I get pissed off at the people who claim it is their right NOT to say the Pledge of Allegiance. To me, that’s saying point blank that you will cheerfully reap the benefits of being an American (by being able to make the choice not to participate) at the same time you are thumbing your nose at the very reason you HAVE that right.

11

Freedom in this country also means freedom NOT to vote, NOT to give blood if you don’t want to, and NOT to have to endure a lecture as to what patriotism is supposed to mean to me.

There are many countries in this world willing to tell its inhabitants how to act in a patriotic fashion. They’re called dictatorships.

12

Yeah pesch, encouraging people to go out and vote happens all the time in dictatorships. Get a life.

13

I wasn’t aware that prizes are going to be awarded for who’s been the most patriotic, the longest.

14

I’ve been hesitant to weigh in on this because frankly I’ve bigger things on my mind, but it is a little irritating that people who haven’t touched flag in years or know the words to the national anthem are now propping them up as super-patriots because they have the courage to say “My country is great and I want blood.”

I love my country. I vote when I can. I could be more involved in my community. But I can’t imagine living anywhere else. And what’s on my mind right now is that there are thousands dead, and if we go to war, there will be thousands more dead.

If I wear a red, white and blue ribbon and march up and down the street chanting USA USA, it doesnt’ make any more or less of a patriot.

I’ve kept my mouth shut about it, because if that’s how you want to express yourself, feel free. But don’t be upset because not everyone is impressed by it. Which I’m not.

15

Cartooniverse :

I respect your opinion and agree with it to an extent. But I also have to contrast that against your sig line :

My point was that I wish more people were kneeling in peacetime as they do in times of national crisis.

16

Very well put, Eutychus. But probably wasted. As Thomas Paine called them, “the sunshine soldier and the summer patriot” will always be with us.

Tranquilis, I hope you’re right, but I suspect those who are jumping on the star-spangled bandwagon now still are pretty shallow, simply having traded one form of shallowness for another. Once the adrenalin rush wears off, some may have learned a deeper understanding of citizenship, but I suspect most will not have.

17

I’ve had this same reaction. I fly the flag on all national holidays, vote in every election, march in a color guard at parades, and remove my hat and stand at attention when the flag goes by. I see many people that don’t, and every time the national colors go by and people sit, chew gum, and babble instead of placing their hands over their hearts, it irritates me a bit.

I get the same feeling when I go to church at Easter and have trouble getting a seat. “I’m here every Sunday,” I think to myself, “and where are all you bozos?”

But that’s just the churlish side of me talking. It’s not consistent with Christ’s message to denigrate people, and it’s wrong of me to use the occasion when people do turn out to do anything but welcome them and make them feel at home. In this way, perhaps one or two families will like the experience enough that they’ll come more regularly, and hear the Word more… surely that’s what God wants, not a scorecard for me to chalk up my attendance in competition with others.

So, too, this issue: I’m happy that people are taking an interest in flying the flag, in donating blood, and I hope that even when the fervor of this moment fades, one or two will remember how good it feels to render a salute to the nation – and they’ll continue to do it.

Like religious faith, patriotism that’s forced down someone’s throat is useless. Right now, we’re swept up in a wave of patriotic feeling. My only valid response to this is to try, in some small way, to help anyone who’s flying the flag for the first time, or donating blood for the first time, to feel good enough about what they’re doing that maybe - just maybe - a year from now, or five years from now… they’ll still fly Old Glory.

  • Rick
18

bricker? can i copy and paste your post to my website? i really like what you said there, and i think it deserves repeating.

19

You summbitch…I was gonna post that analogy about C & E Catholics :wink:

Bricker is right. The best response we can have to “new found” or “lite” patriotism…is the of opportunity. Whatever we may wish in the way of committed and informed citizenship, the sad facts often suggest otherwise. Perhaps now is a time of opportunity in the face of the darkness.

20

As I recall, the Soviet Union had something like a 98% voter participation rate when it was ruled by what was essentially a dictatorship. People were encouraged to vote – strongly encouraged, at the risk of losing what little freedom they had if they didn’t.

I vote in every election, and I believe that it is my duty to do so. But I also believe that it is essential to democracy that voting be a matter of choice.

As for the O.P. – citizens of the U.S. do not have to “earn” the right to be patriots. It is enough that you live in this great, free country, and are not actively violating its laws or attempting to subvert its government. Anyone who does a job, or cares for children, or lives a life in this country can share in the pain that we are all feeling. Being an American has nothing to do with the kind of displays of pomp and military might that occur in Communist countries. It has do with living a secure, happy, peaceful life amid friends, family, neighbors, and co-workers. That’s how we Americans come together on a daily basis. We don’t need to chant U.S.A., or display flags to be American patriots except in times of crisis. And that’s as it should be.