Out of Chaos an organizing newsletter
Patriotism
I remember after 9/11, when Mayor Rudolph Giuliani called on New Yorkers to go shopping, we were going to show the world we weren’t afraid by getting back into the stores and using those credit cards. I understand he was trying to restore normalcy and I actually bought a jacket that week that I still wear all the time, and yet, it niggles: Patriotism = Consumerism? Really?
What is it to be American? All over the world we are known as consumers. It used to be that other countries were jealous of us, but now I fear we just look profligate. We used to be producers and consumers, but now we consume while China produces. Meanwhile, the Pope is taking western, industrialized nations to task for our role in wreaking havoc on the environment.
But it wasn’t always this way. In WWII, being patriotic was a different thing. It was recycling your metal, growing a Victory Garden, observing Meatless Mondays and wearing your skirts shorter. It was about self-sufficiency and coming together and sacrificing for the greater good.
I know that we can’t go back to Little House in the Big Woods, nor do I really want to, but I think that the Fourth of July is a good time to think about what it means to be an American.
I don’t want my children to think that being American is going to the mall and eating a Cinnabon. I don’t think that buying red, white and blue decorations at Michael’s and grilling on the Fourth of July makes me an American. I like to think is it is my entrepreneurship, my creativity, my work ethic and, yes, my thriftiness that make me an American.
So here is my Fourth of July challenge to you: What makes you an American? Post it on my Facebook page. If you don’t like some of the reasons you come up with (Cinnabons are delish)-you can change. Because self-improvement is as American as Apple Pie.