The New Patriotism

An atmosphere of indifference has developed in the course of the past thirty years. While on the face of it Canada has progressed in the areas of consumerism and commerce, beneath the surface there has been an erosion of the very quality that has given us our freedom and a lifestyle that is rich beyond the wildest dreams of over ninety percent of all people who have ever lived on Planet Earth.

While the deceptive voice of consumerism tells us that we are poor if we lack some important new addition to our collection of consumer items, the truth is that we need not and do not starve in this country. We look after one another in ways that are rare. And yes, it is consumerism and the capitalist economic models we employ that make much of this system of benefits possible.

The sad truth is that our citizens are infected with a rampant indifference to the glorious blessings they enjoy. And when we do appreciate something it is more likely to be those consumer goods we or others possess rather than the deeper and loftier treasures we hide in our social closet.

Few speak of freedom and liberty and equal rights as the treasures they hold dear. And it is out of fashion to mention patriotism, which has been analyzed and relegated to the pile of dirty social laundry with such items as masculinity, the warrior society, social discipline, empirical thinking and scientific method.

We would rather be governed by urgent passions; and patriotism does not turn people on. Reason and rationality and logic are remnants of that outdated and irrelevant patriarchal society that still lingers, according to some.

This kind of thinking was within our budget so long as our friends and allies were ready, able and willing to look to our security and defense. But our allies are now hard-pressed to protect their own citizens and borders and we sneer at their suggestions that there is a real threat and that we and our families are targets of these disturbed malefactors.

But we hold this perspective and opinion at risk of our peril. It is a certainty that people scattered across the face of the Earth awaken every morning to plot our destruction. They are energetic and creative and determined in their efforts and they are willing to sacrifice everything up to and including their lives, their resources and their children in their efforts to disrupt and destroy our societies and our culture and our families and friends and neighbours.

The mere recognition of these truths should be sufficient to motivate us to awaken every morning with our superior models of discipline and determination in high gear, saying “We have paid dearly in blood for these liberties and you shall not strip us of them. What has been born of divine design will not be shattered by the evil of hatred and malice and ignorance.”

For it is the Love factor that has made us strong and this alone is sufficient to overwhelm hatred and fear and malice. Love has been manifested in service and sacrifice by our forbears and She calls upon us to give our hearts for the health and safety and security of our Nation, our families, our neighbourhoods and our social systems. Schools, hospitals, transportation and energy systems have all been put in place as expressions of love.

This is the deep hidden heart of democracy where capitalism melds with freedom. We give rich and plentiful gifts to those we love. And we have in fact given them to all who inhabit our Nation, our society and our culture; we have even extended these benefits to our enemies.

The New Patriotism must take into account realities rather than being driven blindly by passion and insincere leaders bent upon our deception. This New Patriotism must enable government of the People, for the People, by the People. As it stands much of our government is of the People, for the corporations, by the corporations.

This is not to argue that corporate citizens should not be a significant part of the decision making processes. The safety, security and healthy development of corporations is a benefit to us all. Our fate and that of the corporate infrastructure are intimately tied.

The final analysis, if that analysis is fair and scientific, will show that what is good for corporate citizens is good for human citizens and vice versa. Oftentimes corporations have not evolved into conscientious and compassionate citizens in the free society, little realizing that the demise of the Nation and the systems that ensure the secure functioning of the Nation will toll the destruction of all Rights, both civil and corporate.

We need a new social contract that takes into account these indisputable truths. The terms of that as yet unwritten contract will help to shape the New Patriotism for which I work and wait.

Let it also be said that some corporations are more mature in their outlook and actions than some human citizens. By this I mean that they are far more responsible, disciplined and compassionate than many people, often because of the accountability that is demanded of them which human citizens need not endure.

I surmise that this is so because of the pure hearts who command and navigate these huge corporate vessels laden with plenty for the masses. In this manner some corporations are delivery systems for the benefit of the millions who could never conceive, manufacture and deliver these goods and services to and for themselves, not in a thousand years. People of genius and compassion and insight act in behalf of everyone, even in corporate head-offices.

This is not to be undervalued nor held in contempt. Rather it is a truth that should be celebrated and enjoyed as we cuddle on our Big Comfy Couch with our cute little well-groomed, well-educated, well-dressed kids watching cable television in our centrally heated homes plugged into electrical and gas grids and dream about where we will vacation in the shiny automobile in our paved driveway.

Granted not all citizens in the nations of plenty enjoy these pleasures as yet. However it is the goal of corporate leaders to see a widget in every home. But the percentage is relatively high here and growing more so everywhere thru quality and access to goods and services extending to more and more people. So we see the spread of these benefits to encompass and embrace the whole world. But the destruction of our systems will pre-empt that dream.

The New Patriotism is a tool for the preservation of what has been achieved and built at such high cost, enabling us to build another level of excellence and comfort into our Universal Culture as it embraces the whole world and citizens both human and otherwise.

We need fire in the heart and brow and arm and will. We need to act now to prevent the collapse of so wonderful a world which has been built upon human imagination and tears and toil. Our parents believed in it and strived to improve upon what had been left to them. We can sit back indifferently and watch it destroyed by people who do not understand us or our lifestyle.

Or we can steel our collective will to resist the intruder and throw back the violent interloper. Terrorism could very well be a blessing in disguise. If it motivates us to take action we will be saved from our own indifference and selfishness.

Rather than fighting endlessly amongst ourselves we need to recognize the true enemies of state and citizen, those who would destroy it to secure a callous and vicious control over all people everywhere. This must not be allowed to happen.

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