America: A Reflection

I only left America for 4 months. Just four months spent in Spain, but somehow, in just 4 months, when I returned home, America shocked me.

America is intensely, and sometimes blindly, patriotic. Look down every block, you'll see a flag. If there's not one there, there will be the next block. It's intense. Flags flying every few houses, outside most government or city buildings, outside of car lots and restaurants. We fly flags around every corner. And really, what does that flag mean? What does that patriotism mean? From my perspective as an intensely liberal military fiancee, I feel like I am surrounded by definitions of patriotism that involve our military. And really, that's a huge turn off to many of us. I support our troops 100%. I do not support the war. I do not support any war. But I support the men and women in the United States Military. But the definitions of patriotism I hear most often revolve around government and military. And blindly following and supporting. That isn't patriotism. That is being a sheep.

I always find it funny when someone speaks out against the military, the responses of military significant others is always the same: "they are only able to say that because of the freedoms fought for by the military. In other countries they'd be shot." I have to wonder, how many women saying these things have really been abroad. In Spain, I heard people speaking out against their government and military actions every day. England, France, Germany. Almost every developed country has a very vocal and sometimes rather large group of people speaking out against military action. These people are not considered unpatriotic in other countries. Occasionally they are viewed as the most patriotic. They love their country enough to know that they can solve conflicts without war. Now, of course, there are many countries where speaking out against your government and military will get you killed: Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, China, N Korea, etc. I know that it happens in a lot of under-developed nations. But, if your argument is going to be that in any other country you'd get arrested for speaking out against your military, you need to check out the rest of the world.

I hate that patriotism has become weapon. If you don't support the war, you are unpatriotic. If you speak out against government actions you are unpatriotic. I have heard people say if you do not sit on these party lines you are unpatriotic. Maybe I'm just a big hippie like everyone says I am, but patriotism to me is highly overrated. I do not need to connect myself to an arbitrary land mass. I am connected to the world, as the world is connected to me. My country represents not much more than the laws I follow and the societal norms I grew up with. I feel no strong ties to this land. I feel strong ties to people. But I am tied to all people. I find myself avoiding patriotic language, events, and symbols. Being connected to the military makes this position a hard one to hold. I am constantly being bombarded with patriotic symbolism. I find it hard to balance my ideals with my surroundings. I support the military. But I wish we didn't need it. And I sure don't think that the military has anything to do with patriotism.

I am an American. But more than that, I am a human. I am a world citizen. I am connected to the world.