Criticizing It, Yet Loving It, and Staying

ITS BEEN MORE THAN FIFTY YEARS since the catchy little phrase "America: Love It Or Leave It" hit the streets, in connection with the Viet Nam war, as the hawks and doves battled it out in the great and ubiquitous arena of public opinion. The dirty little secret is that the dis United States is always divided, by one thing or another, to one degree or another, at many times far more so than even now, difficult that this may seem to believe. The civil war comes to mind. Back then I was a tried and true patriotic little brainwashed pro establishment teenager on the "Love It" end of the spectrum, though rapidly and inexorably evolving out of it. I always felt some vague sense of disquiet about the "Love It or Leave It" dichotomy, as if there were something contrived, some false equivalency about it. By the time I had reached my twenties, my radicalism had emerged full blown, and I knew the reason behind my disquiet. Once again I am confronted with this false choice, fifty years removed from the turbulent sixties, as a psychotic draft dodging president claims he would have enjoyed serving in Viet Nam, and resurrects the old cliche. My response, in the early seventies, and now, is this: How do you know I don't love it?...(Because you criticize it incessantly, all the time, you constantly point out negative things about it).....But that does not mean that I don't love it. It means I care enough about it to be honest about its shortcomings, and to seek ways of addressing them, and improving the country I care so much about.... And this is where I stand. At the senior center we recite the pledge of allegiance every day before we pray before we eat lunch. The pledge was my idea, and I lead it, every day. A lady said "I bet you really hate Colin Kaepernick". I said, "No, I love him. I personally would not kneel during the anthem, but I do not expect anyone to behave in accordance with my values, but instead, in accordance with their own." Then she started this is the greatest country on Earth crap, proud to be an American, Love it or leave it, and all that. My rejoinder was that I think it is a bad idea to be proud of anything, country, flag, personal accomplishments..anything. I prefer to be grateful and happy and pleased to be lucky enough to live in America, but not proud. Pride, all pride, is a form of arrogance, one of seven deadly sins. And to boast that ours is the greatest country in the world is nothing but sheer arrogance, and incapable of being proven. Greatest militarily? Culturally? In what way? Greatest in preserving peace? Definitely not. Other than grotesque economic inequality, child hunger, and a few other problems, American arrogance is among my greatest pet peeves. I tried to convince her that Kaepernick has the right and the moral authority to protest. She claimed that his upbringing had been privileged. Maybe so. She said he himself had said so. I asked her whether Cassius Clay, barred from white only drinking fountains, had any reason to be proud to be an American. She allowed as that he hadn't. Well, if he hadn't, how many others hadn't, and don't? Maybe Kaepernick was protesting not on behalf of himself, but on behalf of others, like Muhammad Ali. Of course, I had her, even though she didn't seem to know it, and probably wouldn't admit it even if she did.