We all say we love our country, but what exactly do we mean? Is it the landmass, particular things about it - purple mountains' majesty above the fruited plains - our Constitutional government, the American people, our love of liberty, or a combo platter of all these things? Maybe we love our weather, the resources buried in our soils, the soils themselves, the birds that fly overhead, the animals and plants that share the country with us. Possibly we revere our history, the brave patriots stretching from George Washington to the men and women we now send to Iraq and Afghanistan.
Why is it then that the very people who are loudest in proclaiming their love of country seem to be the same people who are bent on despoiling it? If it's the American lands they love, why do they push to mine as much of it as possible as quickly as possible? Why do they want to slash the national forests, which is the real goal of what they call the "healthy forests initiative." Why do they drag their feet over every proposal to advance alternative energy development and public transportation. Why do they push for more off-shore oil drilling, even in the wake of last year's massive spill that still bedevils the Gulf coast. Why are they in favor of mountaintop removal coal mining.
If it's Constitutional government they adore, why do they insist on severely limiting government activity that promotes the general welfare and at the same time are ready to play fast and loose with Constitutional liberties as exemplified by the "Patriot Act" and their support of water boarding.
The American people need not take a back seat to any others in our willingness to defend ourselves, in our gifts to charity, or our respect for the liberties of one another. That being said, we are also the descendants of people who profited from the misery of the slave trade and slavery itself, and who seized the continent from its original inhabitants, who were only trying to live and to keep what they already had. As my old high school history teacher - a Goldwater Republican - used to say, "This is our country, we stole it fair and square." Nowadays, despite those contributions to charity and our volunteer services, we still have a population of homeless people wandering through our land (many of whom are veterans) and infant mortality lags far behind many other nations.
Shall I even discuss the birds, terrestrial animals and other resources - our marshes and swamps, our water and air quality? They think temporary convenience from exploitation of fossil fuels is more important than species survival, and believe we have no obligation to be good stewards of those animals, plants and other resources for our progeny.
Maybe it's our history, though they seem to garble it or try to rewrite it to fit their own preconceived ideas. We only need to recall Sarah Palin's pathetic attempt to explain Paul Revere's ride to illustrate the point. They espouse an "every man for himself and devil take the hindmost" perversion of the social contract and trumpet the idea of tax cuts as a panacea for all our problems. For the record, the revolutionaries of 1776 were not tax rebels per se, their slogan was, "No taxation without representation." The amount of taxation was not the issue, it was having laws enacted thousands of miles away without their having any say in the matter.
So what do they love? Just their own comfort, their own ease, their own possessions? Anyone who is on the political right and can answer is invited to do so.
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