George Lipsitz and Patriotism
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George Lipsitz writes about the development of the idea of patriotism and how it was changed or used in the 1970s and 1980s by political and other groups in America with reference to the ongoing debates concerning such issues as the North American Free Trade Agreement, immigration policies, and the role of U.S. troops in overseas conflicts. He links patriotism with the prevailing image of national identity or with some ideal of national identity held out by one group or another. Lipsitz reaches back to an essay on the 1915 D.W. Griffith film for an image of the family in jeopardy to explain the way patriotism is often used--"Griffith's film fashioned a new narrative of national unity and obligation based upon connections between patriotism and patriarchal protection" (Lipsitz 252). This is the way Lipsitz says neoconservative politics has articulated patriotism since the 1970s. It is clear that patriotism has been defined and redefined by neoconservatives over the past two decades in terms of specific national symbols so that accepting and protecting those symbols is proof of something deeper that we call patriotism. Among these symbols are the American flag and the pledge of allegiance, and how both are trotted out as proof of something important in the American character always involves defining those who disagree as the non-patriotic or not-quite-patriotic-enough Other. Much of this patriotism emerges in imagery used by different political leaders, such as that use
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agnostic on that one. But even Bush's critics don't believe he's really the hate filled demagogue of his current Mr. Hyde phase. He seems, rather, to have made a Faustian bargain: my soul for the presidency. Several of Bush's campaign advisers are well suited to the role of Mephistopheles.
Bush's patriotism is spurious for another reason. It's no cost patriotism that demands nothing other than self satisfaction, emotional and material. The Bush style patriot may refuse to pay more taxes, in fact may demand new tax breaks, while clinging to every Government benefit he now enjoys. The Bush style patriot may call for an assertion of American power but needn't put his own body on the line; he may be ''proud'' of service writing press releases in Indiana. And the Bush style patriot can measure his patriotism by his intolerance of people and opinions he doesn't like.
''My opponent's view of the world sees a long slow decline for our country,'' says Bush. In truth, Dukakis' campaign weltanschauung is as fatuously sunny as Bush's. And Dukakis, like Bush, asks nothing of voters except to lie back and enjoy it. Those who do fear that American civilization might be on a downward slope think the inability of our leaders to make any
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Approximate Word count = 4512
Approximate Pages = 18 (250 words per page)
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