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Real patriotism, real security By Scott Russell Sanders
(Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2002 -- CropChoice guest commentary) -- Since the attacks of Sept. 11, the word "patriotism" has come in for heavy
use in America. Politicians pose for the cameras against a backdrop of stars
and stripes, while declaring that patriotism means adherence to their own
favorite policies. Generals tell us that patriotism means beefing up the
military budget. Advertisers urge us to show our patriotism by cruising the
roads in our fat cars, riding airplanes to vacation spots, investing in the
stock market, running up debt on our charge cards, all for the sake of the
economy. Manufacturers exhort us to look for "Made in America" labels.
Pundits and preachers identify patriotism with voting or pledging allegiance
or going to church.
What is lost in all these uses of the word is the original meaning of
"pater"-ism, which is love of one's fatherland. We might just as well speak
of "mater"-ism, love of one's motherland. In either case, what1s essential
is the gratitude and devotion that a child feels toward the source of its
life. And the source, here, is understood to be the landÐnot the leaders of
the tribe, not the warriors, not the buildings or traditions of the clan, but
the abounding earth, with its creatures and cycles and seasons.
Imagine what our ancestors would think to hear us call ourselves patriotic
for dropping bombs on foreign countries, while each year thousands of tons
of topsoil wash from our fields down the Mississippi River. Imagine what
they would think of our bragging about the American economy as a beacon to
the world, while our forests die from acid rain, our rivers run foul and our
cities choke from smog. Imagine what they would think of those who invoke
national security to justify drilling for oil in the Arctic National
Wildlife Refuge, while refusing to support more efficient use of the oil we
already burn. Where, in all of that, is the respect for Mother and Father
America? How can we be patriots without loving and defending the land
itself?
Like talk about patriotism, talk about security evokes military
images, again, all the more so in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks. The
sources of public security we hear about most often are the armed forces,
police, CIA and FBI. The sources of private security we hear about are guns,
alarms and bank accounts. In the name of security, politicians offer us
trillion-dollar missile shields, the Pentagon and their legions of
contractors sell us whiz-bang weapons, developers peddle homes protected by
fences and guards, car companies push four-wheel drive and investment
companies prod us to grab a piece of the rock.
But are money and military force the best guarantees of our security? The
root meaning of the word "secure" is to be free of care or concern. Think of
all that would be required to free us from care. True, we sometimes need
warriors and sleuths to defend us against attacks. But we also need to know
that our children can play outside without danger, that we can safely drink
the water and breathe the air, that we can count on a supply of nutritious
food. We need shelter that1s dry and warm. We need reliable neighbors. We
need to trust that our jobs won1t disappear at the whim of global
corporations. We need to know that we'll be looked after when we fall sick
and when we grow old.
By these measures, tens of millions of Americans are insecure, and no
additions to the Pentagon budget will free them from care. Real security
begins not with weapons or balance sheets but with membership in a loving
community in a vibrant landscape, a community able to meet its basic needs
from local sources, respectful of the weak as well as the strong, devoted to
the well-being of all its members and to the health of its home ground. When
we embrace that vision and work to achieve it, we'll have reason to consider
ourselves true patriots.
-- Scott Russell Sanders, distinguished professor of English at Indiana
University, is a member of The Prairie Writers Circle, a project of The Land
Institute, a Natural Systems Agriculture research organization in Salina,
Kan. He is the author, most recently, of "Hunting for Hope" and "The Force
of Spirit." | |
