Patriotism Is A Character Flaw

I spent the majority of last week with the Star Spangled Banner running through my head. It’s not because Osama bin Laden was shot in the head on my birthday. That hadn’t happened yet. I was scheduled to perform the song on guitar at my friend’s hippie-themed birthday party, and I had to make sure I remembered all the notes. It’s hard to live up to Jimi, but I gave it my whammy-bar-mashing, dive-bombing best. I may dress like a goth, but at heart I’ve always been a hippie. It’s in my blood.

Two days after my tongue-in-cheek ode to the rocket’s red glare, the world’s most notorious terrorist was shot in the head and in the chest. “Dead” one paper’s headline read. That’s news. “Justice” read another. That’s editorialism. As much as I support peace and love and oppose capital punishment, I can’t say I oppose the execution of a slayer of thousands. I can get on board with that. What bothers me is the patriotism.

“USA! USA! USA!” the crowds chanted outside the White House. “USA! USA! USA!” the crowds chanted at the ballpark. What few of these people realize is that this feeling they have coursing through their veins as they shout their brains out - that’s the feeling that inspired the murder of everyone in the World Trade Center. That feeling is the cancer that has had the human race destroying itself for all of recorded history. It’s us against them. They call it patriotism. I call it disgusting.

Racism, sexism, ageism, classism. These are all forms of discrimination. Is patriotism any different?

It’s that feeling of us and them. That feeling of better and worse. That’s where the majority of human conflict and violence comes from. It’s these feelings that drove humans to develop the means of our own extinction during the cold war. But in the immortal words of Rodney King, “Can’t we all just get along?” Can’t we celebrate our differences instead of fighting over them?

The American attitude of superiority is what made so much of the world hate us in the first place. But by no means is it an exclusively American trait. The same attitude of superiority led the Nazis to murder millions during World War II, and it’s what inspired terrorists to kill thousands this century.

The chants of “USA!” fail to recognize that the destruction of the World Trade Center and its occupants was not an American tragedy. It was an international one. It was not an attack on America. It was an attack on humanity. While the Pentagon was attacked as well, that’s not where the massive loss of life occurred. It was in New York City, not an American city, but a cosmopolitan one. Home of the United Nations and the World Trade Center.

As a straight white American male of above average educational opportunity and economic standing, I’ve never been part of an oppressed, disadvantaged, or minority group. So I don’t know what that’s like. (Sure, I’m a vegan, but that’s a choice. And to be honest, I’ve never even identified with being human, like we’re superior to other life.) I do think that people can take pride in who they are, in their individual characteristics, without thinking that whatever group they belong to is somehow better than another group.

If there’s one thing I have identified with, it’s being a New Yorker, not being an American. It’s impossible to walk the streets here without hearing different languages, observing different cultures, and meeting different types of people. Instead of seeing all the superficial differences, though, I prefer to see the oneness. Everyone here scampers to and fro, trying to make a living, feed their family, make friends, and get through the day.

Who cares if someone’s from Vietnam or Pakistan? Kansas or France? It’s a curiosity. A single identifier amidst a sea of personal traits. Here in New York it feels like those things matter less than they do elsewhere. As a world, we’re on the right track, but there’s progress yet to be made. How much time will pass before we stop killing each other in the name of our beliefs? In the name of our country?

Now there’s one less terrorist mastermind in the world. If you take grim satisfaction in what you call justice, my bleeding heart won’t lose any sleep. But if you are jumping for joy and chanting “USA!” then maybe it’s time to glance in the mirror and look the enemy straight in the eye.