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By Jim Heffernan
Patriotism used to be what floated our balloon and carried us to marvelous new places. Not so much anymore.
Everybody pretends to be patriotic. This is a grand time if you sell flags. I see them displayed in profusion in the strangest places. But I feel true patriotism, in the grand old sense of, “We’re all in this together” is dead. Our politics and our language are killing it.
I suppose patriotism is still alive and well in the military, but not that many serve nowadays. I believe my time in the military left me permanently infected.
Politics today is mainly exercised by the two extreme ends of the political spectrum. It seems to become nastier by the day. We have a Congress that pats itself on the back for keeping the government open. Significant law making seems to only happen with a gasp of last-minute desperation.
According to “Hidden Tribes”* fully 2/3 of America belongs to the group they call “The Exhausted Majority” who are fed up with the pointless political theater we see every day and that we are expected to take seriously. So much of that political theater seems to be aimed at driving us apart and tearing down our faith in our government.
This is confirmed by Tillamook’s turnout history in the “special elections” where we vote for local government positions such as the school board members and county commissioners. Our vote-by-mail system makes it very, very easy to vote, yet only about a third of us vote. The result is that if you can get more than 1/6 of registered voters on your side, you win.
Dr. Frank Luntz’s brilliant 17 year old book, “Words That Work: t’s Not What You Say, It’s What They Hear” opened my eyes to the role language plays to make us nastier to one another. See my recent review** of the book to read the excerpt that details his view.
I wish I could go to Amazon and order a super-size portion of true Patriotism for everyone I know, but they don’t have any. Maybe if we all tried a little harder to listen to and respect each other, the flower of patriotism might bloom full force again.
We need to change. Contempt for our fellow citizens and patriotism cannot co-exist.
As always, discussion welcome at codger817@gmail.com and as always, I write for the joy of exploring ideas, forward and use as you like
*https://hiddentribes.us/ (if link doesn’t work for you, ask at codger817@gmail.com and I’ll send you a PDF.
**https://www.tillamookcountypioneer.net/book-review-words-that-work-its-not-what-you-say-its-what-people-hear/
