Has patriotism become obsolete? Last year, a Wall Street Journal poll reported that only 38% of Americans think patriotism is very important. This is down from 70% who said the same in 1998. The question is why.
De Tocqueville, the famous French writer who loved America, offers some insights. In his essay “On America’s Public Spirit,” he describes two types of patriotism, warns about moments when patriotism fades, and offers solutions for reviving it.
The first kind of patriotism is instinctual. People love their homes, and this love is “mixed with a taste for old customs, respect for ancestors and memories of the past.” This patriotism has a more monarchical character and is based on the old order and tradition. It waxes and wanes, flares up again in times of war and peace, and then subsides.
In contrast, Republican patriotism is stable, with citizens “interested in the welfare of the country first as something that serves them and then as their own business.” He connects his character and fate with the fate of the Motherland. Republican patriotism is based on reflection, practice, and self-interest. It is “born out of enlightenment; it develops with the help of the law, grows with the exercise of rights, and finally mixes in a certain sense with personal interests.”
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De Tocqueville was surprised and admired that such patriotism reigned in America, even though the American people had not lived there long. He even quipped that travelers cannot criticize anything about America to Americans, except perhaps the climate and soil.
However, “there sometimes comes a moment in people’s lives when old customs are changed, customs are destroyed, beliefs are shaken, and the prestige of memory disappears.” The land “seems like a lifeless land in their eyes.” They despise and despise their ancestors and members of Congress. Neither type of patriotism appeals to people anymore.
It is difficult to read de Tocqueville’s descriptions of such moments without considering the current era. Civics education is in a dire state. We destroy statues and memories, for better or for worse. According to psychologist Gene Twenge’s Generations, 4 in 10 Zoomers think it would be more accurate to describe the founders as villains rather than heroes. It’s perhaps no surprise that patriotism is less important to the technological generation, which has retreated into the online world and avoided face-to-face conflicts and even the minutiae of daily life.
De Tocqueville’s prescription for the renewal of patriotism is for men and women to participate in government and society. As he famously observed, Americans formed civic associations even for seemingly mundane tasks. This kind of involvement allows citizens to come together to repair community centers and raise money without worrying about partisan political differences. Engaged citizens begin to see each other as neighbors rather than political adversaries, and see differences through the lens of goodwill rather than suspicion.
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More fundamentally, the American political system is driven by the consent of the governed, giving the people a sense of ownership of their country. The principle that all men are created equal, which demands that public opinion be treated as sovereign, is the ultimate source of American patriotism. To understand this more fully, we might turn to one of de Tocqueville’s most notable American contemporaries: Abraham Lincoln.
In commemorating Independence Day, Lincoln noted that many Americans were no longer direct descendants of those who fought in the Revolution. Will American unity and patriotism fade over time? He responded that if Americans looked at this declaration, they would see the following:
They have a right to claim it as if they were blood and flesh of the people who wrote that declaration, and they are. It is an electric cord of declaration that unites the hearts of people who love patriotism and freedom, and it will unite patriotic hearts as long as love of freedom exists in the hearts of people all over the world. .
It is this declaration that defines and unites us as Americans. It gives us principles to strive for, ideals we are called to further advance and realize, and it inspires us to love America, even if imperfect, because it is great in its mission. . Perhaps the most important cause of the current decline of patriotism is that we no longer understand, and perhaps no longer believe, the truth of this great principle.
What we are asking today is for us to take this issue seriously and to tackle it. We may find that it not only makes us patriotic, but also ennobles us as individuals and as a people.
